Israel approves construction of 764 houses in three West Bank settlements

Smotrich says units in Hashmonaim, Beitar Illit, and Givat Ze’ev part of ‘strategic move’ to bolster settlements; Palestinian Authority says policy ‘aims to ignite the region’

Israel on Wednesday gave the go-ahead for the construction of 764 more houses in three settlements in the West Bank.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced that the Higher Planning Council, the Defense Ministry body in charge of settlement construction plans in the West Bank, approved 478, 230, and 56 housing units in the Hashmonaim, Beitar Illit, and Givat Ze’ev, respectively.

Smotrich, who oversees civilian affairs in the West Bank, called the council’s decision part of a “clear strategic move to strengthen settlement and ensure continuity of life, security and growth.” Wednesday’s decision puts the total of housing units approved in the West Bank since Smotrich assumed his post at 51,370, he said in the statement.

The settlements are thought by most of the international community to be illegal under international law.

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesperson for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, condemned the move, saying the approval was part of a settlement policy that “aims to ignite the region” and “drag it into a cycle of violence and war.”

He demanded that the Trump administration pressure Israel to stop settlement expansion “in order to ensure the success of President Trump’s efforts and endeavors to stop the war and achieve stability in the region.”

The decision comes less than a month after plans were announced to seize parts of a major West Bank archaeological site. In August, Israeli authorities approved construction on the controversial E1 settlement project in the territory that would effectively cut it in two.

The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has come under heavy criticism from Palestinians and rights groups for accelerating settlement expansion in the West Bank, which they say is aimed at preventing the establishment of a future Palestinian state there.

Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza — areas claimed by the Palestinians for a future state — in the 1967 war. The West Bank is currently home to around three million Palestinians, as well as about 500,000 Israeli settlers. Israel annexed East Jerusalem.

Violence by extremist settler activists has ramped up in recent months during the olive harvest season, with repeated incidents of extremists beating Palestinian civilians and carrying out arson attacks and other forms of violence.

During October’s olive harvest, settlers across the territory launched an average of eight attacks daily, according to the United Nations humanitarian office, the most since it began collecting data in 2006. The attacks continued in November, with the UN recording at least 136 more by November 24.

Settlers burned cars, desecrated mosques, ransacked industrial plants, and destroyed cropland.

Netanyahu and the rest of his coalition have mostly been mum on the phenomenon. Critics accuse the government of tacitly backing the attacks, which have been taking place on a near-daily basis.