The Israeli Construction and Housing Ministry has completed plans for the construction of a new Israeli settlement to be built in the in the West Bank, south of Jerusalem.
The ministry has already received approval from military authorities in the West Bank to build the settlement, to be called Givaot, which was already being considered by the government of former prime minister Ehud Bark, a spokesman said, quoted by AFP.
Citing an Army radio report on Friday morning, The Jerusalem Post said the new settlement will include some 6,000 housing units and is intended for the national-religious public.
The spokesman was confirming a story published in Israeli daily Haaretz, which said the settlement would be built at Gush Etzion, which is southwest of Jerusalem and west of Bethlehem.
Haaretz said that the ministry intends to submit a detailed plan for construction of the first stage of the new town - some 2,000 houses - for the board's approval in the near future.
The Israeli Jerusalem municipality has approved building 2800 residential units on Abu Ghnaim Mount east Jerusalem, known to Israelis as Har Homa.
A Palestinian official, Hatem Abdul Qader, told Albawaba.com that the plan was shelved for years by the Likud and is implementing it, now in power – Albawaba.com
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