Some 560 units will be built in the settlement of Ma’aleh Adumim, in the West Bank east of Jerusalem, and some 240 within the Israeli-drawn municipal boundaries in the East Jerusalem settlements of Pisgat Zeev and Har Homa, among others, Channel 10 reported.
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The UN and most countries regard the Israeli settlements as illegal because the territories were captured by Israel in a war in 1967 and are hence subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbid construction on occupied lands.
The issue of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian Territories is already a tense one, however the recent announcement has drawn additional ire from the worldwide community as it came just days after an global report warned that such actions were putting in doubt the possibility of a two-state solution.
A day after Thursday’s attack, 48-year-old Israeli Michael Mark was killed after his auto was sacked on by a suspected Palestinian gunman south of Hebron.
A report released on Friday by the so-called Quartet – United States, European Union, United Nations and Russian Federation – called on Israel to stop its policy of building settlements on occupied land and restricting Palestinian development.
The day before, a 17-year-old Palestinian broke into the Kiryat Arba settlement and stabbed to death 13-year-old Hallel Yaffa Ariel as she slept in her bed.
“During the demolition, multiple violent riots erupted”, with Palestinians throwing rocks and opening fire, the spokeswoman said.
Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, took aim at the recent settlement announcement as well as the lockdown on the Hebron region of the West Bank.
The Quartet report said at least 570,000 Israelis are living in the settlements.
The report by the four entities sponsoring the stalled peace process said Israeli policy was “steadily eroding the viability of the two-state solution”.
The army said no decision had been taken on how long the closure would remain in place, but Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan said it should stay “for an extended period of time”.
Israeli forces destroyed the homes of two Palestinians in the West Bank. “It is the occupation itself”, he said.
They said that several people were killed and others wounded as three suicide bombers struck the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina, the vicinity of the US Consulate in Jeddah and the vicinity of a Shia mosque in Qatif.
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Also Monday, Israel’s Shin Bet security agency said it has arrested two Palestinians who helped two Palestinian gunmen carry out a deadly shooting attack at a Tel Aviv cafe last month. The last attempt, led by the U.S., collapsed in April 2014.
