RAMALLAH, March 13 (JMCC) - A ministerial committee on
settlements approved the construction of 500 new homes in the occupied
West Bank Saturday night after the killing of five Israelis in the settlement of
Itamar.
The move comes after several months in which the group refrained from approving new West Bank housing,
reports Haaretz.
Some 500 housing units are due for construction in the settlements of Gush Etzion, Ma'ale Adumim, Ariel, and Kiryat Sefer.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak took part in the meeting on the matter Saturday night. During the discussion, several alternatives to further settlement building were discussed, such as starting a new settlement, or widening the settlement of Itamar but the end the decision, supported by Barak, was to continue construction in settlement blocs.