Israel approves nearly 800 housing units in three West Bank settlements

Israel has given final approval for 764 housing units to be built in three settlements in the occupied West Bank, finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Wednesday.

The ultra-nationalist Smotrich said that since the beginning of his term in late 2022, some 51,370 housing units have been approved by the government's Higher Planning Council in the West Bank.

The units will be spread out between Hashmonaim, just over the Green Line in central Israel, and Givat Zeev and Beitar Illit near Jerusalem.

All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law, and numerous UN Security Council resolutions have called on Israel to halt all settlement activity.