The Israeli Defense Ministry is moving forward with the construction of more than 2,300 settlements in the West Bank, the Times of Israel reported on August 6.
Of the 2,304 settlements that were approved, 1,466 are still in the initial stages of planning while 838 gained final approval. More than 70 percent of the settlements will be built away from the West Bank security barrier, including in the Gush Etzion region as well as Givat Silat outpost in the Jordan Valley.
The European Union (EU) denounced the planned settlements.
“All settlement activity is illegal under international law. It erodes the viability of the two-state solution and the prospects for a lasting peace,” the EU said in a statement. “The EU expects the Israeli authorities to fully meet their obligations as an occupying power under International Humanitarian Law, and to cease the policy of settlement construction and expansion, of designating land for exclusive Israeli use, and of denying Palestinian development.”
Peace Now, a leftist NGO that promotes a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, said in a statement, “The approval of settlement plans is part of a disastrous government policy designed to prevent the possibility of peace and a two-state solution, and to annex part or all of the West Bank. The linkage of thousands of housing permits for settlers and a negligible number of housing units for Palestinians cannot hide the government’s discrimination policy.”
On July 31, the Israeli Security Cabinet green-lighted the building of 700 Palestinian homes in Area C, which the Israeli government controls, as well as 6,000 Israeli settlements, 2,304 of which were approved on August 5 and 6.
