JERUSALEM/ ISTANBUL

Israeli authorities approved the construction of 764 new settlement units in the central West Bank, local media said on Wednesday.

According to Channel 7, the government's Higher Planning Council agreed to build 478 settler homes in the settlement of Hashmonaim, west of Ramallah in the central West Bank, 230 homes in Beitar Illit and 56 units in Giv’at Ze’ev.

There was no official Israeli statement on the building.

Israeli settlement construction has surged across the occupied West Bank since Benjamin Netanyahu’s current government took power at the end of 2022.

Local media said that 51,370 settler homes have been approved across the occupied territory since the beginning of the current government’s term.

According to data from the Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now, more than 700,000 illegal settlers live in the West Bank, including around 250,000 in East Jerusalem.

The UN has repeatedly affirmed that Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories are illegal under international law, warning that they undermine prospects for a two-state solution.

In a landmark opinion in July last year, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.