The Israeli regime has approved plans for building some 300 settler homes in the occupied West Bank, a day after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas ignored public outrage and attended the funeral for a former Israeli war criminal.
Reports in Israeli media said the regime in Tel Aviv had issued a decree for the construction of an initial 98 units near the illegal settlement of Shilo, located between the cities of Nabulus and Ramallah.
The reports said some 200 more settler homes would be built in the second stage of the project.
The order comes despite mounting international criticism about Israel’s expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank, a policy many blame for stalled talks between the Palestinian Authority and Israel.
The construction orders were reportedly issued hours after Abbas attended the burial ceremony for former Israeli Premier and President Shimon Peres. Abbas sought permission to cross into the occupied territories to attend the funeral.
Israeli media said the regime’s approval of the settler homes apparently sought to compensate a recent ruling by an Israeli court which ordered the eviction and demolition of Amona settlement. The court said those settler homes should be demolished by December 25 as they had been built on privately owned land.
