The Civil Administration has approved or advanced over 2,700 more settlement homes, a day after okaying a similar number, the Peace Now watchdog group says.
In total, 4,948 units were approved in settlements across the West Bank. The watchdog says 2,688 were okayed for final or near-final approval, while the rest were okayed for an advanced planning stage.
On Wednesday, the Civil Administration okayed 2,166 units.
A picture taken on October 14, 2020 shows a partial view of the Israeli settlement of Ofra on the eastern outskirts of Ramallah in the West Bank. (AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)
Several hundred of the approvals are for homes already constructed illegally, which will be retroactively authorized, Peace Now says.
Among the approvals Thursday are 629 units in Eli, 357 in Geva Binyamin, 354 in Nili, 286 in Bracha, 211 in Yizhar (known as among the most extreme settlements, where police, troops and others are regularly attacked) and 178 in Einav. Most of the settlements are in outlying parts of the West Bank that Israel would likely not hold onto as part of land swaps in any realistic peace deal.
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