Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak Monday approved the construction of 366 housing units in several Jewish settlements in the West Bank, local news service Ynet reported.

Besides the 366 new homes, which are to be built in five settlement blocs in the Palestinian territories, Barak is also expected to approve another dozens of housing units in the coming days, according to the report.

Barak's endorsement followed last week's go-ahead signal from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who reportedly intended to greenlight home construction in settlements before imposing a moratorium of settlement activities for a few months.

Such a move is widely seen a balancing maneuver by the Israeli premier, who is caught between a rock and a hard place, with his right-wing allies opposing any construction freeze in the West Bank and the United States pressing for a total freeze in a bid to resume the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Netanyahu Sunday said his country is likely to clinch a deal with the United States over the settlement issue during the upcoming visit of US President Barack Obama's special envoy George Mitchell, which is scheduled for later this week or early next week.

The new construction plans have drawn criticism from the Obama administration and the European Union, both of which have been leading the international community in urging the Jewish state to completely stop construction in the Palestinian territories.

While condemning Israel's continued construction, the Palestinian side Sunday stressed that they will not return to the negotiating table before Israel freezes settlement construction.

(Xinhua News Agency September 8, 2009)