Israel weighs 747 new West Bank settlement units despite growing Western pressure
Plans come day after 12 Western countries announced steps to restrict trade in goods from illegal Israeli settlements
JERUSALEM (AA) — Israeli authorities are considering plans for 747 new settlement units in the occupied West Bank, just a day after 12 Western countries announced moves to restrict trade in goods produced in illegal Israeli settlements.
Israeli rights group Bimkom – Planners for Planning Rights said Wednesday that a Civil Administration committee was due to review three separate settlement plans in the West Bank.
The group noted that the meeting was taking place less than 12 hours after the Western countries called on Israel to halt settlement expansion and settler violence.
The three plans involve construction in Yitav West, Ma’oz and Adi Ad and together provide for 747 housing units, according to Bimkom.
One proposal would establish the Yitav West settlement in the Jordan Valley.
The plan covers about 200 dunams, or 50 acres, and includes 281 housing units near land previously used by the Palestinian community of Ras Ein al-Auja for grazing and agriculture.
Bimkom said Ras Ein al-Auja had been the largest Palestinian herding community in the West Bank before residents were forced to leave in late January following sustained violence and pressure from Israeli settlers.
The planned construction comes as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government continues to accelerate settlement expansion.
The government has said that since taking office in late 2022, it has approved 104 new settlements and established 160 agricultural outposts in the occupied West Bank.
Around 750,000 Israeli settlers now live in 156 settlements and about 360 outposts across the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, according to Palestinian figures.
Israeli settlements built in the occupied Palestinian territories are considered illegal under international law by the United Nations and most of the international community.
Israel rejects that position.
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