The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates in a statement condemned Tel Aviv’s decision to tender for the construction of 1,029 housing units, 940 in the settlements of Efrat and Beitar Illit and 89 in the occupied territory of East Jerusalem.
The move contradicts recent assurances from Israel, whose authorities have promised to halt the work over the next four months due to international pressure, the State Department said.
The project confirms that officials in that country are continuing their strategy of apartheid with the goal of closing the door on any opportunity to create a Palestinian state, he questioned.
Although these are the figures offered, the Israeli NGO Peace Now condemned the Higher Planning Council’s approval of the construction of 7,157 new houses and the legalization of four outposts after two days of deliberations on Thursday and Friday.
The UN and the world consider all Israeli colonies in the West Bank and East Jerusalem illegal, but Tel Aviv authorities distinguish between authorized and unauthorized colonies.
Most of the outposts, nuclei of future settlements, are being built by far-right sectors and groups without government consent, which has led to clashes in the past.
According to various estimates, more than 200,000 Jewish settlers live in East Jerusalem and more than 450,000 in the rest of the West Bank.
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