26 January 2016•Update: 26 January 2016
By Kaamil Ahmed
JERUSALEM
Israel's defense ministry has approved plans for more than 150 new homes in the occupied West Bank, according to Israeli NGO Peace Now.
The organization's settlements expert Hagit Ofran told Anadolu Agency that she saw plans approving last week the building of 158 new units and retroactively legalizing another 92 homes already built.
Despite reports that the approval ended an 18-month de-facto freeze on settlement building, under pressure from the U.S., Ofran said government-backed settlement activity has continued during that time.
"There were a few plans approved for 10 houses here and 15 houses there that got no attention and there were a few hundred built illegally. So the freeze was not complete," she said.
"I think it's a continuation of Netanyahu's policy, which is to expand settlements. Even the one thing that he slowed down, which was the planning process, seems to have been reopened. This policy is leading Israel away from peace and the two-state solution."
Ofran said that after receiving the defense ministry's approval, the proposals would go to a planning committee for consideration.
Anadolu Agency was unable to reach the Israeli defense ministry for comment.
