Settlement homes get approval

The Israeli government yesterday announced that it was advancing plans to build over 1000 new homes in West Bank settlements, pressing ahead with construction as the Trump administration prepares to unveil a long-awaited peace plan.

The Civil Administration, the defence body that oversees civilian affairs in the West Bank, said its planning committee had approved a total of 1015 housing units.

Peace Now, an anti-settlement watchdog group, said the decision included final approval for immediate construction of nearly 400 homes, with the rest requiring further bureaucratic approvals. It said most of the units were in isolated communities that would likely have to be removed as part of any future peace deal with the Palestinians.

Some 600,000 Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem — territories captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war and claimed by the Palestinians for a future state.

Most of the international community, along with the Palestinians, considers the settlements illegal and an impediment to peace. Israel says the fate of the settlements must be resolved in peace negotiations with the Palestinians.

In a break from his predecessors, President Donald Trump has avoided condemning settlement construction, though he has urged Israel to show restraint.

Trump’s Mideast team, headed by his adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has been working on a peace proposal for months but has not said when it will be released.

Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, told reporters in Jerusalem on Wednesday that a ‘‘lot of progress’’ has been made, but would not say when it will be publicised.

The Palestinians have already said they consider the plan a nonstarter, accusing Trump of being unfairly biased toward Israel after his unilateral recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital in December.

There was no immediate Palestinian reaction to the latest settlement announcement. – AP