JERUSALEM: Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Tuesday he will present for approval a plan to build 1,285 housing units this year in West Bank settlements.

Israel’s settlement project in the territories it has occupied or annexed since 1967 is illegal under international law and seen by the international community as a major obstacle to peace with the Palestinians.

“The defence minister will on Wednesday present for approval by the Higher Planning Council an immediate construction plan for 2018 of 1,285 housing units in Judea and Samaria,” his ministry said, using the biblical names Israeli authorities use for the West Bank.

Lieberman would also seek to move forward projects for 2,500 additional housing units in more than 20 locations, it said.

The Higher Planning Council meets several times a year to examine and approve settlement construction projects.

According to Peace Now, an Israeli NGO that campaigns against the settlements, 6,742 housing projects were approved in the settlements last year, the highest figure since 2013.

In 2016, 2,629 housing units were approved.

In December, the central committee of Likud party unanimously adopted a resolution urging its own elected officials “to allow free construction and the application of (Israeli) legislation to all liberated Jewish settlement areas” in the territory.

Published in Dawn, January 10th, 2018