JERUSALEM: Israel’s nationalist-religious government on Sunday tabled plans to approve thousands of building permits in the occupied West Bank, despite US pressure to halt settlement expansion that Washington sees as an obstacle to peace with Palestinians.

The plans for approval of 4,560 housing units in various areas of the West Bank were included on the agenda of Israel’s Supreme Planning Council that meets next week, although only 1,332 are up for final approval, with the remainder still going through the preliminary clearance process.

“We will continue to develop the settlement of and strengthen the Israeli hold on the territory,” said Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also holds a defence portfolio that gives him a leading role in West Bank administration.

Most countries deem the settlements, built on land captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war, as illegal. Their presence is one of the fundamental issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Palestinians seek to establish an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as their capital. Peace talks that had been brokered by the United States have been frozen since 2014.

Over 4,500 housing units planned in occupied West Bank; US sees move as an obstacle to peace with Palestine

Since entering office in January, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition has approved the promotion of more than 7,000 new housing units, deepest in the West Bank.

It also amended a law to clear the way for settlers to return to four settlements that had previously been evacuated.

In response to Sunday’s Israeli decision, the Palestinian Authority — which exercises limited self-rule in parts of the West Bank — said it would boycott a meeting of the Joint Economic Committee with Israel scheduled for Monday.

The Palestinian group Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, after Israel’s withdrawal of soldiers and settlers, condemned the move, saying it will not give (Israel) legitimacy over our land. Our people will resist it by all means”.

Jewish settler groups welcomed the announcement.

“The people have chosen to continue building in Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley, and that is the way it should be,” said Shlomo Ne’eman, mayor of the Gush Etzion Regional Council and Chairman of the Yesha Council, using Israel’s biblical names for the West Bank.

The Israeli move to approve thousands of building permits came days after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was accorded warm welcome at the Great Hall of the People, where Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated his call for Palestine state to become a “full member” of the United Nations.

Hailing the establishment of strategic ties with Palestine, the Chinese president told his Palestinian counterpart that Beijing is willing to play a positive role to help the Palestinians achieve internal reconciliation and promote peace talks with Israel.

The US opposes full Palestinian UN membership, barring a peace deal with Israel, a step requiring a vote in the Security Council where the US, like China, holds a veto.

On the occasion, China and Palestine signed a number of bilateral cooperation documents. Those include an economic and technological cooperation pact, a deal on mutual visa exemption for diplomatic passports, and a friendship between the Chinese city of Wuhan and Ramallah, seat of the Palestinian government in the occupied West Bank.

“The fundamental solution to the Palestinian issue lies in the establishment of an independent Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital,” Xi said, according to Chinese state media.

Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang told his Israeli and Palestinian counterparts in April that his country was willing to aid peace negotiations, Xinhua reported. In both calls Qin emphasised China’s push for peace talks on the basis of implementing a “two-state solution”.

Published in Dawn, June 19th, 2023