Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered plans to move forward to build around 800 homes for illegal Jewish settlers in the West Bank.
The news on Monday comes just days before Joe Bide began Jan. 20 who, unlike Donald Trump, has been critical of Israeli settlement policies in the past.
“The Prime Minister ordered the progress of the construction of hundreds of homes in Judea and Samaria,” said the statement issued by Netanyahu’s office, using biblical names for the owned West Bank.
A statement Monday said the 800 units would be built in the cities of Beit El, Tal Menashe, Rehelim, Shavei Shomron, Barkan, Karnei Shomron and Givat Zeev, but did not give a start date for their construction.
Under international law, settlements are considered illegal.
Palestinian officials and much of the international community see them as a major obstacle to a two-state operational solution.
The Palestinian Authority’s foreign ministry criticized the latest news, accusing Israel of “racing against time” to build settlements before Trump resigns.
Jordan’s foreign minister Ayman Safadi said the announcement of Israeli settlement plans “does not create the conducive environment for the resumption of talks that are the only path to a two-state solution”.
In a joint statement with the foreign ministers of Egypt, Germany and France, Safadi called on Israel to “immediately and completely suspend settlement activity, including [occupied] East Jerusalem ”.
Trump, a staunch ally of Netanyahu, has taken a series of steps since taking office in January 2017 that have been criticized as “racist” and “discriminatory” against the Palestinian people.
His administration gave U.S. unparalleled support to settlement groups, augmented by confirmation from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in 2019 that Washington no longer saw settlements as a violation of international law .
According to watchdog Peace Now, 2020 was one of the most advanced years for the construction of illegal settlements.
Last year was the highest number of permits since Trump took office and the highest number since Peace now began recording the figures in 2012.
But Biden has said his administration will renew U.S. policy against the expansion of settlement in the Palestinian territories.
He has also promised a fairer approach in which he will back support Palestinians cut off by Trump and work to revive peace talks.
‘Stop all settlement actions’
Netanyahu, meanwhile, faces re-election on March 23, Israel’s fourth vote in just under two years.
A series of recent opinion polls led the veteran prime minister to face a strong right-wing challenge from pro-conciliatory candidate Gideon Saar, who was ousted from Netanyahu’s most distant Likud party. last month to run against the prime minister.
Netanyahu is widely expected to make a series of plays for right-wing votes, including by strengthening his pro-reconciliation credentials, ahead of the vote, according to Israeli political analysts.
Opposition Israeli leader Yair Lapid, who hopes to dismantle Netanyahu in March, called the settlement a “reckless step” that would lead to a “battle” with the new U.S. administration.
Palestinian leaders claim the West Bank, captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war, as part of a future independent state.
They say the growing number of illegal Israeli settlers, approaching 500,000 in the West Bank, has made it more difficult to fulfill their claim for independence. .
Netanyahu’s order to build a settlement is not final, with the process of clearing a number of bureaucratic levels and potential legal challenges from anti-occupancy groups before any construction begins.