ETHLEHEM, Saturday, April 7 (NNN-WAFA) – The so-called Israeli Higher Planning Committee approved on Saturday evening the construction of 770 new housing units in the illegal settlement of Bitar Elit, west of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, according to the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission (CWRC).
CWRC Director in Bethlehem, Hasan Burejeya, told WAFA that the approval comes only a few days after Israel okayed the construction of 70 housing units in the nearby illegal Maksad settlement.
Between 500,000 and 600,000 Israelis live in Jewish-only settlements across occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank in violation of international law.
All settlements across the West Bank are illegal under international law, particularly article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which establishes that the occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.
