Israeli Occupation Troops Plans Huge Expansion of Settlement

Israel is preparing for a huge expansion of the Itamar settlement in the northern West Bank, the Peace Now settler watchdog said according to al-Manar News.

 The plan, which has yet to be approved, would see the illegal Itamar expanding five-fold from 137 homes to 675.

 According to Peace Now spokesman Lior Amihai, a so-called ‘defense ministry committee’ was to convene on Wednesday to start preparing plans for adding 538 residential units.

“We see this as very dramatic,” he told Agence France Presse. “To enlarge it to 675 is to enlarge the settlement to almost five times its size.”

The “defense ministry” said the meeting was primarily about approval for buildings already in place, and stressed that plans for new construction had not yet been approved.

 Observers also suggested the plans to enlarge the settlement could be linked to an upcoming Palestinian bid, forcefully opposed by the Israeli enemy and the United States, to secure upgraded membership at the United Nations.