Israeli Defence Ministry approves 346 settlement units

The Israeli Defense Ministry has sanctioned the building of 346 new housing units in the Gush Etzion settlement complex south of occupied Jerusalem. Gush Etzion Local Council Head Davidi Pearl told Isaeli media that the construction plans were approved weeks ago. He said that 200 of those units would be built in Tikwa settlement while 146 others would be built in Nokdim settlement. According to Israeli newspaper (The Jerusalem Post), earlier this month, Israel’s Construction and Housing Ministry issued tenders for 114 apartments in the Efrat settlement, also in Gush Etzion. It also issued tenders for 84 units in the Kiryat Arba settlement adjacent to Hebron, right outside Gush Etzion. This follows a December decision to advance plans for 523 homes in a new neighborhood of Gush Etzion’s Alon Shvut settlement known as Gevaot, it added.