Israeli authorities have approved the construction of new settlement units in Israeli-occupied West Bank, Israeli media reported.

According to Israeli Channel 10, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Defense Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, approved the construction of 42 housing units in the southern West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba.

This is the same settlement where a 13-year-old Israeli girl was stabbed to death last Thursday, reportedly by a Palestinian teen who was thereafter shot dead by Israeli army forces.

Stressing the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, Madani said 2,420 Palestinians have been… https://t.co/qwxuqT185d

— antonio maniscalco (@antoniomanisca4) July 4, 2016

According to international law, the West Bank and East Jerusalem are “occupied territories,” and all Jewish settlement-building on the land is illegal.

About 500,000 Israelis now live in more than 100 Jewish-only settlements built since Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967. The Palestinian Authority demand the return of these areas, along with the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian negotiators insist that Israeli settlement-building on Arab land must stop before a comprehensive peace agreement can be reached.

(PC, MEMO)