JERUSALEM, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Israeli authorities approved on Monday the construction of 31 new housing units for settlers in the West Bank's flashpoint city of Hebron, for the first time in 15 years.
The Israeli Civil Administration's Subcommittee for Licensing said it had approved the building request in the Shuhada Street in Hebron, where a few hundred Jewish settlers live in a heavily guarded enclave among some 200,000 Palestinians.
The committee said that the public was allowed to file objections against the approval before the final permit is issued.
Peace Now, an Israeli settlement watchdog, said the new permit would increase the number of settlers in Hebron by 20 percent.
"This would be the first plan for settlers in Hebron since 2002, when approximately 10 housing units were built in Tel Rumeida under the excuse of security need," the group said in a press release.
"The settlement in Hebron represents the occupation in its most ugly face. In order to protect a small group of settlers, tens of thousands of Palestinians have been forced to leave their homes. Roads and shops were closed," the group said.
Israel sees U.S. President Donald Trump as more tolerant for the expansion of the settlements, in contrast to former U.S. presidents who saw the settlements as a major hurdle for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
Since Trump assumed office in January 2017, Israel has approved thousands of new housing units for settlers.
Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the 1967 Middle East war and has occupied it ever since, despite wide criticism. The settlements are illegal under international law.
