Israeli minister touts plans to approve 4,000 settler homes

Israel is set to advance plans for the construction of 4,000 settler homes in the occupied West Bank, the interior minister said Friday, drawing warnings of “serious consequences” from the Palestinian Authority.

If approved, it would be the biggest advancement of settlement plans since the Biden administration took office. The White House is opposed to settlement growth because it further erodes the possibility of an eventual two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, a staunch supporter of settlements, tweeted that a planning committee would convene next week to approve 4,000 homes, calling construction in the West Bank a “basic, required and obvious thing.”

Nabil Abu Rdeneh, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said the planned approvals would have “serious consequences on the ground.”