Plans to build in occupied West Bank cleared by Israel
The Independent|July 05, 2024
The Israeli government has approved plans to build nearly 5,300 new homes in settlements in the occupied West Bank, a monitoring group has said – a move that will only increase tensions over the war in Gaza.
TIA GOLDENBERG & KAREEM CHEHAYEB
Plans to build in occupied West Bank cleared by Israel

Word of the decision emerged as an Israeli official said prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had decided to send negotiators to resume ceasefire talks over Gaza. Diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the nine-month war in Gaza appear to be stirring back to life after weeks of little movement. The night before, the militant Hamas group said it gave mediators its latest response to a US-backed proposal for a phased ceasefire.

Fighting has intensified between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, with Hezbollah saying on Thursday that it fired more than 200 rockets and exploding drones into northern Israel to avenge the killing of a senior commander in an Israeli airstrike the day before. The strikes have raised fears of a potentially even more devastating war in the Middle East. Hezbollah has said it will halt its attacks if there is a ceasefire between Hamas – a fellow Iran-backed ally – and Israel.

The Israeli anti-settlement monitoring Peace Now said the government’s Higher Planning Council had approved or advanced plans for 5,295 homes in dozens of settlements across the occupied West Bank. On Wednesday, Peace Now said Israel approved the largest seizure of land in the West Bank in over three decades.

This story is from the July 05, 2024 edition of The Independent.

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This story is from the July 05, 2024 edition of The Independent.

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