JERUSALEM: An Israeli settler organisation has expanded several settlements in the occupied West Bank despite international commitments by the government not to do so, media and the settlers said on Wednesday.

Israeli radio said the Amana organisation has built about 100 new homes in several settlements, including at Alon near the Dead Sea and Yakir east of Qalqiliya in the West Bank, in a move swiftly condemned by the Palestinians.

The news came as Palestinian and Israeli peace activists were holding a series of protests to demand the end of four decades of Israeli occupation and settlements on Palestinian land on the anniversary of the 1967 Six Day War.

The government issued construction permits for the houses several years ago and most of the new structures have already been sold, public radio said. “This is private land bought by entrepreneurs who obtained construction permits,” said Betsvi Lieberman, the head of a settler lobby.

The radio report said that the houses were built in small isolated settlements and not in the large settlement blocs that Israel would like to keep under an eventual peace plan with the Palestinians.

Yossi Beilin, the leader of the left-wing Meretz party, condemned what he called “the worst message that one can send to the Palestinian pragmatic camp. It is a dangerous game that the settlers have been playing for 40 years.” The Palestinian Authority also denounced the expansion and called on the international community to stop all settlement activities.—AFP