GAZA – Israel will approve construction of hundreds of new settlement homesin the occupied West Bank, Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman saidon Tuesday.
Settlements are one of the most heated issues in efforts to restartIsraeli-Palestinian peace talks, frozen since 2014.
Palestinians want the West Bank for a future state, along with EastJerusalem and the Gaza Strip. Most countries consider as illegal theIsraeli settlements built in the territory which Israel captured in the1967 Middle East war.
Israel disputes that its settlements are illegal and says their futureshould be determined in peace talks with the Palestinians.
Israeli authorities were due to approve on Wednesday the construction of1,285 housing units to be built in 2018 and advance planning for 2,500others in about 20 different settlements, Lieberman said in a statement.
There was no immediate comment from the Palestinian officials. ThePalestinians say Israeli settlements in the West bank, a key issue in peacetalks. deny them a viable contiguous state.
U.S.-brokered peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians collapsed in2014 and a bid by the Trump administration to restart them have shownlittle sign of progress.
The White House said on Monday U.S. Vice President Mike Pence will visitthe region from Jan. 20 to 23, embarking on a tour originally planned forDecember after President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capitalof Israel.
Pence will hold talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi,Jordan’s King Abdullah and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, theWhite House said.