Israel Plans Another 55000 West Bank Settlement Units

Israel’s Ministry of Housing is working on plans for more than 55,500 units in West Bank settlements, according to a new Peace Now report.

The surge in violence has been fuelled by Palestinians’ frustration over Israel’s 48-year occupation of land they seek for an independent state, and the expansion of settlements in those territories which were captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has voiced concern over “extrajudicial killing” of Palestinians by Israeli forces.

“This planning, which contradicts any possible commitment to a two-state solution, continues”, said Monday’s report, although it added that the plans could be years from realisation.

“They must be approved by the minister of defense and then go through the approval process of the planning authority”, the report said.

Hanan Ashrawi condemned Israel’s illegal settlement activities stating:”Once again Israel is exposing its true intentions of destroying the chances for a contiguous and viable Palestinian state while establishing “Greater Israel” on historical Palestine”. The latest round of US-brokered peace talks collapsed in April 2014.

The cell is evidence to “an increased effort to exploit the escalation of violence in the West Bank to promote bombings and suicide bombings against targets in Israel and the West Bank”, the Shin Bet said.

It later annexed east Jerusalem in a move never recognised by the worldwide community.

Israelis march from the Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim to the controversial West Bank area known …

Meanwhile, Israeli troops shot and killed two Palestinians after they stabbed a soldier on Sunday near a West Bank checkpoint, the military said.

Also Sunday, Israel returned the bodies of seven suspected Palestinian assailants killed in recent weeks to their families, the military said.

More than 120 Palestinians have died during this period, some in clashes with Israeli security forces amid protests, while others were gunned down by Israeli security forces and vigilante citizens while allegedly carrying out attacks against Israelis.