LONDON: Israeli authorities have advanced 11 settlement expansion plans that would add 895 housing units across the occupied West Bank, alongside industrial and commercial developments, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported on Saturday.
The Palestinian Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission said the plans cover several areas, including Qalqilya, Salfit, Nablus, Ramallah, Al-Bireh and Hebron, as well as the Gush Etzion settlement bloc in the southern West Bank.
The projects extend beyond residential construction to include industrial zones, commercial facilities, roads and other infrastructure designed to support further settlement growth and accommodate more settlers, the commission said.
The largest residential expansion involves 288 additional housing units in the Kedumim settlement, built on land belonging to the Palestinian village of Kafr Qaddum, west of Nablus.
Other plans include 225 new units in Beit Hagai, south of Hebron, and 200 in Talmon, northwest of Ramallah.
The commission also identified plans for 98 additional units in Ariel in Salfit governorate and 83 in Elon Moreh, near Nablus.
It warned that the plans would convert agricultural land and open spaces into residential and industrial areas, further restricting Palestinian communities' access to land and opportunities for expansion.
The announcement comes amid renewed international concerns over Israeli settlement expansion, particularly the controversial E1 project east of occupied Jerusalem.
