Extremist Israeli minister Smotrich unveils plan for 7,000 new colonial housing units in West Bank

TEL AVIV: Hard-right Israeli Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has unveiled a plan to build 7,000 new housing units for Israeli colonists in the occupied West Bank, according to Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth. According to the daily, Smotrich intends to convene the so-called High Planning Council to approve the construction of approximately 7,000 new colonial housing units. It is expected that over 2,000 of these units will go to the final approval stage, though these figures are still subject to review. The newspaper clarified that convening the council requires political-level approval, noting that the council last met in June of the previous year. Colonial settlement construction in the occupied territories has been a longstanding obstacle to peace in Palestine, since the colonial Israeli settlements undermine the geographic contiguity of the Palestinian territory. Source: Palestine news & Information Agency – WAFA