The Israeli government has legalized an old settler enclave in the West Bank, stepping up efforts to Judaize occupied Palestinian territories.
 
The Shvut Rachel settlement, which hosts 95 Israeli families, was retrospectively legitimized by an official committee last week, the Associated Press reported Thursday.
 
According to the settlement’s acting mayor, Yaakov Moshe Levi, the committee has legalized 115 apartments already constructed or under construction. The panel also endorsed in principle the construction of almost 500 more apartments in the settlement.
 
Shvut Rachel, located on a hilltop in the heart of the West Bank, was established 21 years ago after Israeli settlers seized the land without official permission from Tel Aviv.
 
The legalization come after Peace Now, an anti-settlement NGO based in Israel, lodged an appeal against illegal construction in the area to the Israeli Supreme Court.
 
Palestinian officials have condemned the move, criticizing Israel’s intent to escalate settlement-building in occupied Palestinian territories.
 
The Israeli regime has also repeatedly been censured by the international community for its illegal settlement expansions on occupied Palestinian territories.
 
Nearly 500,000 Israelis live in more than 100 settlement units built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
 
(Press TV)