“Retroactive approval of three illegal outposts; a fivefold expansion of the Shvut Rachel settlement south of Nablus with 534 new housing units; doubling the size of the Dolev Settlement west of Ramallah with 454 housing units; 120 housing units in Kiryat Arba next to Hebron; Adding 332 dunams to the Ariel Industrial Zone; and 1061 housing units in Beitar Illit west of Bethlehem,” the organization elaborated.

“The approval of these construction plans in the settlements is a slap in the face, not only to the prospect of peace but also to the possibility of some future Palestinian economic development,” the organization underlined.

It is estimated that between 600,000 and 750,000 settlers live in at least 250 illegal settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem.

According to international law, the transfer by an occupying power of its civilian population into the territory it occupies is a war crime

The consensus of the international community – the vast majority of states, the overwhelming majority of legal experts, the International Court of Justice, and the UN, is that settlements are in violation of international law. (ILKHA)