Israel to approve over 1,300 housing units in West Bank, much to the chagrin of Palestinians

The Benjamin Netanyahu-coalition government in Israel on Sunday tabled plans to approve 4,650 housing units in the occupied West Bank. The plans were included on theagenda of Israel's Supreme Planning Council that meets next week.

Although only 1,332 units are up for final approval, with the remaining going through the preliminary clearance process, the decision by the Israeli government is set to irk many.

"We will continue to develop the settlement of and strengthen the Israeli hold on the territory," saidFinance Minister Bezalel Smotrich who also plays a leading role in overseeing West Bank administration.

Palestine condemns Israel's decision

The decision did not go down well with the Palestinian Authority which self-rules limited parts of the West Bank. The authority said it would boycott the Joint Economic Committee meeting with Israel scheduled on Monday.

Meanwhile, Hamas, a Palestinian Islamist group that has been using Gaza as a launchpad for attacks, condemned the move, adding it"will not give (Israel) legitimacy over our land. Our people will resist it by all means".

Notably, for a long time, Palestinians have been demanding the establishment of an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip withEast Jerusalem as the capital.

Netanyahu administration in overdrive

The US, a strong Israelally had earlier requested the Netanyahu administration to halt settlement expansion as it sees as the step as an obstacle to peace with the Palestinians.

However, since coming to power again in January, Netanyahu has exacerbated the speed of approving housing units. As many as 7,00 new units have been approved by the coalition since the turn of the year. It has also amended a law that clears the path for the settlers to return to four settlements that had previously been evacuated.

TheUNSecurity Council earlier this year strongly opposed Israel's expansion of settlements. At the time, PM Netanyahu's office released a stinging statement, saying the criticism“negates the rights of Jews to live in their historical homeland".

It added that the UN statement "ignores Palestinian terror attacks in Jerusalem in which 10 Israeli citizens were murdered this month, turns a blind eye to the fact that the Palestinian Authority subsidizes terror and pays the families of terrorists, and diminishes the antisemitism that led to the murder of millions of Jews.”

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE: