Israel to build 650 new settlement units in West Bank

Israel on Tuesday announced plans to build 650 new settler units in the central West Bank, according to Hebrew-language daily Israel Hayom.

The new housing units will be built in the Jewish-only Beit El settlement, which is located adjacent to the West Bank city of Ramallah.

The new units are ostensibly meant to compensate Jewish settlers evacuated earlier from illegal settlement outposts elsewhere in the West Bank.

According to Palestinian figures, more than 700,000 Jewish settlers now live on 196 settlements (built with the Israeli government’s approval) and more than 200 settler outposts (built without its approval) across the occupied West Bank.

Israel’s continued policy of unbridled settlement building is seen as the main obstacle to resuming Palestine-Israel peace talks, which broke down in 2014.