Israel Approves Thousands of Settler Building Permits in West Bank | CPT PPP Coverage

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel’s nationalist-religious government approved the construction of around 5,700 additional housing units for Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank on Monday, despite U.S. pressure to halt settlement expansion that Washington sees as an obstacle to peace with Palestinians.

The plans for approval of the housing units in various areas of the West Bank were approved by Israel’s Supreme Planning Council. Final approvals were given to 818 units while the others were in various stages of approval. Jewish settler leadership praised the decision.

“I thank the Israeli government for the continued development of Israeli settlement,” said Shlomo Ne’man, head of the West Bank Gush Etzion Regional Council and chairman of the Yesha Council.

“Especially in these difficult days, this is the most appropriate Zionist answer to all those who seek to destroy us.”

Most countries deem the settlements, built on land captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war, as illegal. Their presence is one of the fundamental issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Palestinians seek to establish an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as their capital. Israeli settlers cite Jewish historic connections to the land. Peace talks that had been brokered by the United States have been frozen since 2014.

The United States is “deeply troubled” by the decision, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters, adding that U.S. officials had made clear publicly and privately to Israel their opposition to moves that advance settlements.

“The expansion of settlements undermines the geographic viability of a two-state solution, exacerbates tensions, and further harms trust between the two parties,” a U.S. National Security Council spokesman said.

Since entering office in January, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition has approved the promotion of more than 7,000 new housing units, most deep in the West Bank.

“The Israeli government is pushing us at an unprecedented pace towards the full annexation of the West Bank,” the Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now said in a statement.

A surge of violence over the past few weeks in the West Bank have included rampages by scores of Israeli settlers in Palestinian towns and villages that drew international condemnation and concern from the White House.

The Israeli military said Monday that an Israeli soldier was suspected “of taking part in a violent confrontation between Israelis and Palestinians” last week in the Palestinian town of Umm Safa. “The soldier was apprehended and investigated by the Israel police,” the military said in a statement.

Settler attacks in Palestinian towns and villages in the West Bank after the killing of four Israelis in a Hamas gun ambush have drawn international condemnation and U.S. statements of concern.

(Reporting by Emily RoseEditing by Alistair Bell and Mark Heinrich)

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