Israel has approved a new proposal to build 764 homes for Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank, even as a ceasefire continues in the Gaza Strip. The decision was reported on Tuesday by Israel’s Channel Seven.
According to the report, the Israeli government has authorized the construction of 478 homes in Hashmonaim near Ramallah, 230 in Beitar Illit, and 56 in Giv’at Ze’ev — totaling 764 new settler units. The government has not yet issued any official public statement on the approval.
For decades, Israel has gradually expanded its settlements in the West Bank despite international opposition. This trend has accelerated since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power in 2022. Israeli media reports indicate that in the past three years alone, his government has approved a total of 51,370 new settler homes across various parts of the West Bank.
Opposition to settlement expansion also exists within Israel. “Peace Now,” a prominent Israeli civil society group, reported that around 250,000 settlers currently live in East Jerusalem and more than 450,000 in the wider West Bank — territory considered the heart of a future Palestinian state.
The United Nations has repeatedly warned that expanding settlements reduces the land available for a viable Palestinian state under the two-state solution. In July last year, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) declared new settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem illegal under international law and ordered Israel to remove settlers. The Israeli government has taken no action to comply with the ruling.
