Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the construction of 300 new houses at the settlement of Beit El in the occupied West Bank.

The Wednesday announcement came after the Israeli parliament rejected a bill to legalize settlement outposts.
 
All settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are considered illegal under international law.
 
The outposts are also illegal under Israeli law and the government has agreed to remove all or part of six illegal outposts following a Supreme Court ruling.
 
Last year, the court ruled that five buildings which are home to 30 families at Ulpana were built entirely on private Palestinian land.
 
Netanyahu ordered the transfer of the buildings at Ulpana to a nearby former army base in another part of Beit El and the construction next to them of 300 new housing units to placate settlers.
 
Israel continues its settlement construction in the occupied Palestinian territories despite condemnation from the international community.
 
Thousands of Israelis have been living in a dozen settlement neighborhoods since Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967.
 
(Press TV)