Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, centre, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, left, attend a weekly cabinet meeting in the prime minister鈥檚 office in Jerusalem, June 18, 2023. Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
JERUSALEM 鈥� Israel鈥檚 nationalist-religious government on Sunday tabled plans to approve thousands of building permits in the occupied West Bank, despite U.S. pressure to halt settlement expansion that Washington sees as an obstacle to peace with Palestinians.
The plans for approval of 4,560 housing units in various areas of the West Bank were included on the agenda of Israel鈥檚 Supreme Planning Council that meets next week, although only 1,332 are up for final approval, with the remainder still going through the preliminary clearance process.
鈥淲e will continue to develop the settlement of and strengthen the Israeli hold on the territory,鈥� said Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also holds a defense portfolio that gives him a leading role in West Bank administration.
Most countries deem the settlements, built on land captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war, as illegal. Their presence is one of the fundamental issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Palestinians seek to establish an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as their capital. Peace talks that had been brokered by the United States have been frozen since 2014.
The U.S. State Department said it was 鈥渄eeply troubled鈥� by the move, and called on Israel to return to dialogue aimed at de-escalation.
鈥淎s has been longstanding policy, the United States opposes such unilateral actions that make a two-state solution more difficult to achieve and are an obstacle to peace,鈥� department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.
Since entering office in January, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu鈥檚 coalition has approved the promotion of more than 7,000 new housing units, most deep in the West Bank.
It also amended a law to clear the way for settlers to return to four settlements that had previously been evacuated.
In response to Sunday鈥檚 Israeli decision, the Palestinian Authority 鈥� which exercises limited self-rule in parts of the West Bank 鈥� said it would boycott a meeting of the Joint Economic Committee with Israel scheduled for Monday.
The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, after Israel鈥檚 withdrawal of soldiers and settlers, condemned the move, saying it 鈥渨ill not give (Israel) legitimacy over our land. Our people will resist it by all means鈥�.
Jewish settler groups welcomed the announcement.
鈥淭he people have chosen to continue building in Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley, and that is the way it should be,鈥� said Shlomo Ne鈥檈man, mayor of the Gush Etzion Regional Council and Chairman of the Yesha Council, using Israel鈥檚 biblical names for the West Bank.