Israeli soldiers keep guard as children of Israeli settlers play outside the Beit Hadassah settlement in the city of al-Khalil (Hebron) in the occupied West Bank on May 29, 2017. (Photo by AFP)
Israel's top settlement construction committee is about to meet next week to advance "multiple" expansion projects in the occupied West Bank, a Tel Aviv-based newspaper says.
The so-called Civil Administration’s High Planning Committee will meet on Tuesday and Wednesday to push through various projects, including construction of 2,600 settler units, The Times of Israel reported.
The fresh expansion plans come shortly after Donald Trump visited Israel. An Israeli official said Tel Aviv does not expect the building approvals to cause diplomatic trouble with Washington, having already discussed the issue with the US president.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday ordered a comprehensive review of all the new plans up for approval, but a settler leader said they were not enough.
Har Hevron Regional Council head Yohai Damari urged cabinet ministers "to strengthen the settlement movement and release all the plans that were frozen in the eight-year-long Obama dry spell,” referring to ex-president Barack Obama.
Shortly after Trump came to office, the White House insisted that Israeli settlements were not “an impediment to peace”. Encouraged by the new US administration, Israel unveiled plans in April to build 25,000 settler units in Jerusalem al-Quds.
The settlement construction is seen as an attempt by Israel at gradual annexation of the Palestinian lands.
