Israel issues tenders for 2,500 new settler homes: Watchdog

Peace Now said PM Netanyahu announces settlements in occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem as he faces polls in March.

Israel has issued tenders for 2,500 new settler homes in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, a watchdog said on Wednesday, on the eve of Joe Biden’s swearing-in as US president. On Sunday, Israel approved 780 new settler homes in the West Bank ahead of March elections, in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to face a fierce challenge from right-wing and pro-settler candidate Gideon Saar. Peace Now said the government had now published tenders for a further 2,112 units in the occupied West Bank and 460 in occupied East Jerusalem, the eastern part of the city annexed by Israel but which the Palestinian Authority hopes to make the capital of a future state.