As 1,800 New Illegal Settlements to Built in the West Bank

Jerusalem, MINA – The Supreme Council for Planning and Development of the Civil Administration of the occupation of Israel on Wednesday approved the construction of 1,800 new illegal settlement units in West Bank.

The Yediot Aharonot newspaper quoted by MINA reported that the council will reconvene on Thursday to approve more than 3,000 new units.

It comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave the green light to the Council to approve the construction of 5,000 settlement units.

Israel continues to expand settlement building in the West Bank. Israel’s illegal actions have drawn criticism from various parties, because it will split the West Bank in two and further damage the prospects for a future Palestinian state.

The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres says his organization supports the two countries to live in peace and security with borders recognized before the 1967 line.
Israel captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War.

The Jerusalem-based non-profit organization that opposes settlements, Peace Now, confirmed that there are a total of 1,739 houses in the construction plan, and 92 percent of them are located deep in the interior of the West Bank.

Still according to Peace Now, a new industrial area has also been approved to be built near the Palestinian city of Qalqilya in the West Bank.

Earlier, on January 28, 2020, the President of the United States Donald Trump inaugurated a Middle East peace plan that requires Palestinians to accept settlements in the West Bank. The move caused widespread anger across the region as well as the European Union. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)