Israel to advance plans for nearly 4,000 settler homes in West Bank - official

Israel is to advance plans for nearly 4,000 settler homes in the occupied West Bank as part of a push to greatly boost settlement growth, an Israeli official said Tuesday. The approvals are to include units in the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron for the first time in years. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that “3,736 housing units will be approved at different stages of planning and construction,” AFP reports. The timeframe was not immediately clear, but he said the homes would be located throughout the West Bank, including in Hebron and at the Migron and Beit El settlements near Ramallah. “In total, about 12,000 housing units will be approved in 2017, at various stages of planning and construction, four times the number in 2016,” he was quoted as saying.