«Israel» Escalates Settling: 3,000 New Units in WB

Local Editor

Escalating its aggression in Occupied Palestine, the apartheid entity's government announced Tuesday night the construction of 3,000 settlement units in the occupied West Bank, the fourth such announcement in the less than two weeks since the inauguration of US President Donald Trump.

"Avigdor Lieberman and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have decided to authorize the construction of 3,000 new units," the War ministry said in a statement, using a term "Israel" uses for the West Bank, a Palestinian territory it has occupied since 1967.

Since the January 20 inauguration of Trump, "Israel" has approved the construction of 566 units in three settlement areas of east al-Quds and announced the building of 2,502 more in the West Bank.

On Thursday last week, "Israeli" officials gave final approval for 153 settler units in east al-Quds.

They had been frozen under pressure from the previous US administration of president Barack Obama, which had warned that settlements could derail hopes of a negotiated "two-state solution".

Trump however has pledged strong support for "Israel", and Netanyahu's government has moved quickly to take advantage.

"We are building and we will continue building," Netanyahu said last week, referring to settlement approvals.

The prime minister has said he sees the Trump presidency as offering "significant opportunities" after facing "huge pressures" from Obama on Iran and settlements.

In a telling break with the Obama administration, Trump's White House has not condemned "Israel's" settlement expansion.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team