Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved a plan to expand the illegal settlement of Itamar constructed on Palestinian land southeast of Nablus, West Bank, Israeli media sources revealed.
Israel’s Arutz Sheva reporterd yesterday that Netanyahu approved the “development plan of Itamar settlement under which will include the construction of institutes and educational institutions including schools and kindergartens as well as public parks.”
Netanyahu has also granted permissions to homes and residential units built in the settlement without permits, the channel said.
It explained that the development plan was among a set of demands by settlers who set up a tent in front of Netanyahu’s home in West Jerusalem earlier this month.
However, head of Shomron Regional Council Yossi Dagan said he was “disappointed the government did not issue permissions to build more housing units in the settlement”.
The settlement council remarked on the decision saying Netanyahu’s step does not live up to their expectations.
“The council has already obtained approvals for the built houses; Netanyahu has only ratified them while he maintained a freeze on settlement construction so he did not offer anything new. The freeze on settlement construction is a real crisis caused by the current government,” it added.