Israel announced plans today to create 22 new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, the Associated Press reported, quoted by BTA.
The project includes both the construction of entirely new settlements and the legalization of existing outposts that have so far been built without official approval from the Israeli government.
Israel occupied the West Bank during the Six-Day War in 1967. Since then, the country's settlement policy has been the subject of sharp international criticism.
The Palestinian Authority insists that the West Bank should be the core territory of a future independent Palestinian state - a goal supported by much of the international community.