Israel plans to build more than 3,300 new homes in settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank in response to a fatal Palestinian shooting attack, a senior Cabinet minister said.
The decision is bound to frustrate Washington at a time of growing tensions over the course of Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
It’s an outcome opposed by Netanyahu and his right-wing government — and pushed farther from view, advocates say, as new settlement plans are advanced.
Consecutive Israeli governments have expanded settlements in east Jerusalem and the West Bank, war-won territories the Palestinians seek for a future state, along with Gaza.
Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war.
Israel has held the West Bank under a tight grip — limiting movement and conducting frequent raids against what it says are militant targets.
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