JERUSALEM: Israeli authorities advanced plans on Tuesday for 1,292 settler homes in a new push by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to expand settlements in the occupied West Bank, an NGO said.

The approvals came after government officials pledged a major boost in settlement home approvals this year, with US President Donald Trump so far much less critical of such plans than his predecessor Barack Obama.

Settlement watchdog Peace Now reported the approvals by a committee overseeing settlement construction in the West Bank.

A list provided by the NGO showed homes to be offered in a number of locations across the territory, including 146 in Nokdim, a southern West Bank settlement near Bethlehem where Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman lives.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2017