Israel OK's over 1,500 new settler units

ISRAEL: Israel has once again defied international law by approving the construction of over 1,500 more illegal settlement units on occupied territories of Palestine, a report says.

Israel's Interior Ministry Planning Committee has given the final approval for construction of 620 settlement units in Pisgat Zeev in northeastern Al-Quds (Jerusalem) and another 900 in Har Homa in the south of the city.

The plan was approved on Thursday just hours before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was to leave for Washington, where he is to meet US President Barack Obama in the White House on Friday.

Israel occupied and annexed East Al-Quds (Jerusalem) with the rest of the West Bank in 1967 six-day war, but the measure was never recognized by the international community.

The United Nations has repeatedly declared Israel's settlement building on Palestinian lands as illegal under international law. Israel aims to strengthen the presence of settlers in the occupied Palestinians territories with the goal to bring about a demographic change in the region to gain points when they resume negotiations in the future.

The Palestinians, however, want East Al-Quds as the capital of their future state, a move opposed by the Israelis. Press TV