Israel captured both areas in the 1967 Mideast war. The city is holy to both Jews and Muslims.
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After two decades of failed peace efforts, and almost a year of low-level violence, distrust is strong.
Since last September, Palestinians have killed 34 Israelis in shootings, stabbings and vehicular attacks.
Palestinian security forces arrested on Monday night four murder suspects from east Jerusalem, without notifying Israel in advance or coordinating the operation with the Israeli authorities.
A new rule that makes it more hard for Palestinians to sue their Israeli employers for abusive and unlawful behaviour has been denounced as unfair.
The Israeli army frequently carries out sweeping arrest campaigns in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem that ostensibly target Palestinians “wanted” by the Israeli occupation authorities.
Hagit Ofran of the anti-settlement group Peace Now said it was the first approval in the area in more than a decade. The units are to be built on land that belongs to the military’s Mitkanim outpost.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, issued a statement accusing Israel of trying to “Judaize” Hebron. A special team has been planning the settlement’s expansion in recent months.
The Israeli steps come at a time of deadlock in global peace efforts.
Gaps between the sides are so vast that talks appear unlikely anytime soon.
Talks between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Abbas have been suspended since 2014, despite a push by Washington and France to resume the peace process.
UNRWA Director of West Bank Operations Scott Anderson commended in the statement “the selfless actions and collective effort of the medical teams from UNRWA and the Palestine Red Crescent Society who quickly responded in providing emergency medical care to the large number of civilians injured during the incursion into the camp”, and called on Israel to “uphold the standards of global law”.
Netanyahu’s government is dominated by West Bank settlers and their supporters, and Netanyahu is unlikely to agree to halt construction.
According to eyewitnesses, Israeli forces confiscated lathing and blacksmith machines from several shops in Bethlehem and the northern Doha town on claims they were being used to manufacture weapons.
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The poll also revealed that when presented with a peace agreement package based on that from previous rounds of negotiations, only 39% of Palestinians and 46% of Israelis (39% of Israeli Jews and 90% of Israeli Arabs) said they support such a package.
