JERUSALEM, Israel – In a rare move on Monday, Israel greenlit some 1,300 Palestinian homes in the West Bank – biblical Judea and Samaria.
The decision authorized already existing homes and gave permission to build new ones, an Israeli security official speaking on condition of anonymity told AP.
Israel controls about 60% of the West Bank, including territory called “Area C.” Israel hardly ever approves Palestinian construction permits in Area C, resulting in widespread illegal building. Israel routinely demolishes these homes.
Palestinian rights groups say the decision to approve the 1,300 Palestinian homes doesn’t go far enough to meet the housing need in the West Bank. The building process will likely encounter repeated delays and final approval could take months or even years.
Israel’s approval of the Palestinian homes came days after it approved the construction of more than 3,000 housing units for Jewish settlement communities last week.
The settlements are located on land that is disputed by the Palestinians and Israel. Leaders on both sides have said the territory’s permanent status is to be resolved through peace negotiations, but direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians have been suspended for years.
The Palestinians seek the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and eastern Jerusalem – territories Israel captured in the 1967 Six-Day War – as part of a future state. The Palestinians view the settlements as a major obstacle to peace and most of the international community considers them to be illegal according to article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Israel cites the San Remo Resolution signed in 1920 after World War I as its right under international law to settle the land. Israel also views the disputed territory that the settlement communities are built on as the biblical and historical heartland of the Jewish people.
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While Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett strongly supports Israel’s settlements, they are opposed by the US and some members of Israel’s ruling government coalition. State Department Spokesman Ned Price said last week that Israel’s approval of the 3,000 Jewish units “is completely inconsistent with efforts to lower tensions and to ensure calm, and it damages the prospects for a two-state solution.”
According to AP, Israel’s government says the authorization of the 1,300 Palestinian homes is part of its strategy to adopt a more moderate approach to minimize friction with the US and tensions in its governing coalition, which includes parties across the political spectrum.
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