Israel will promote, next week, the construction of more than 4,500 housing units in settlements in the West Bank. And the Israeli government, at its weekly meeting, decided to ease construction in Israeli settlements, removing bureaucratic roadblocks that had been in place for 27 years.
With our correspondent in Jerusalem, Michael Paul
An accelerated process for the expansion of settlements in the West Bank and also for the retroactive legalization of outposts established without official authorization. And the one who now obtains full powers in the matter is none other than the Minister of Finance Betsalel Smotrich, leader of a far-right party and himself living in a settlement.
The Israeli right and settler organizations congratulate each other. For the Dove Peace Now movement, these expanded powers will allow the minister to neutralize any opposition to construction in the West Bank. For its part, the Israeli NGO Yesh Din says that this decision will give Smotrich and his team the freedom to expand and establish settlements without any control.
The Palestinian Authority, for its part, has decided to boycott a meeting of the joint Israeli-Palestinian economic commission scheduled for Monday, June 19. The first to be convened since 2009. Other reactions are being studied, still indicates Hussein Al Sheikh, the Minister of Civil Affairs of the Palestinian Authority. Next week, Israel is expected to approve the construction of 4,560 housing units in several settlements in the West Bank.
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