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Israel denies authorising new housing units in West Bank settlements

Xinhua, April 14, 2016 Adjust font size:

Israel on Thursday denied local media reports that the government approved the construction of 300 new housing units in West Bank settlements.

In a statement, the Office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon did not authorize any new construction, but rather that "almost all permits are for upgrading existing structures."

The statement came in response to Israeli media reports on Wednesday that last month Netanyahu and Ya'alon last month approved the construction of 300 new housing units in Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

The Prime Minister's Office did, however, confirm that new housing units are forthcoming in Ganei Modi'in, located in the western West Bank.

Ha'aretz daily reported on Wednesday that 48 new housing units are anticipated for the Ganei Modi'in community.

"The small proportion pertaining to new construction are for the Ganei Modi'in community, along the fence border, and will become part of Israel in any future agreement," the statement read.

The fence refers to the separation barrier constructed by Israel in the West Bank following the second armed uprising, also known as an intifada, in the early 2000s, with Ganei Modi'in located within the Israeli side of the barrier.

Israel occupied the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip territories in the 1967 Mideast War.

The international community deems the Jewish settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem as illegal.

According to Wednesday's media reports, 54 new housing units were approved for the Har Brakha settlement near Nablus, 17 were approved for the settlement of Revava in the northern West Bank, 34 for Tekoa, south of Jerusalem, 70 in Nokdim, south of Bethlehem, and 76 in Givat Ze'ev, northwest of Jerusalem.

Ha'aretz daily reported that Netanyahu and Ya'alon had instructed the Civil Administration to promote the new construction projects.

The Civil Administration, operating in the West Bank since 1981, carries out bureaucratic functions in the occupied territories.

Settlement construction slowed down in 2015 and witnessed a decrease in the issuing of new construction plans, as Netanyahu faced criticism from the international community, mainly from the United States.

Officials of the U.S., which has used its veto power to block United Nations Security Council resolutions against Israel with respect to the occupation of Palestinian territories, implied recently that if Israel continues its current policies, Washington may no longer support it at the UN.

An Israeli watchdog monitoring settlement construction in the occupied territories said in a report on Tuesday that the number of new home plans in West Bank Jewish settlements tripled in the first quarter of 2016, up from 194 to 674, compared with the same period last year. Endit