Israel plans to set up largest number of settler units since 1992: Minister

Israel says it has plans to build the largest number of settler homes since 1992, in defiance of an international outcry against the Tel Aviv regime’s land grab policies in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Israeli Minister of Military Affairs Avigdor Lieberman made the provocative remarks in a press conference at the start of a cabinet meeting on Sunday, adding that plans had been advanced for 8,345 homes in the occupied West Bank, including 3,066 scheduled for "immediate construction."

"The numbers for the first half of 2017 are the highest since 1992," Lieberman told reporters and ministers.

On Thursday, Israeli anti-settlement group, Peace Now, which monitors settlement activities in the West Bank, revealed that Tel Aviv had advanced plans for constructing 7,721 settler units since January, almost triple the figure for all of last year, which amounted to 2,699 units.

Peace Now said the plans were at various stages of the approval process and the units were located in a number of settlements across the occupied West Bank. Last week alone, the occupying regime advanced plans for over 3,000 settlement homes.

The move is a blatant violation of the United Nations Security Council’s Resolution 2334, issued on December 23 last year, which demands that Israel “immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem" al-Quds.

It also states that the building of settlements by Israel has "no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law."

Since the inauguration of US President Donald Trump in January, the regime in Tel Aviv has stepped up its construction of settler units on occupied Palestinian land in a blatant violation of international law.

In his last month's visit to the occupied territories, Trump reportedly urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold back on such controversial projects, which could further cloud chances of a so-called two-state solution.

Trump, who met with both Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, purportedly sought what he termed as the "ultimate deal." He urged both sides to restart the so-called peace negotiations.

As the Israeli regime strives to fortify its military occupation by unleashing settlement construction, there seems to be little chances, if any, of success of Trump's "ultimate deal."

About 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 illegal settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem al-Quds. The occupying settlers are living alongside about 4.9 million indigenous Palestinians.

The Palestinian Authority wants the West Bank as part of a future independent Palestinians state, with East Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital.

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