Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich speaks at a news conference after announcing that he will sign an order to seize Palestinian Authority funds and transfer them to the families of victims of Palestinian attacks, at Israel’s Finance Ministry in Jerusalem, January 8, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

i24 News – Israel’s government on Sunday put forth plans to approve thousands of building permits in the West Bank, despite US pressure to halt settlement expansion that Washington regards as an obstacle to a lasting peace with the Palestinians.

The plans for approval of 4,560 housing units in various areas of the West Bank were included on the agenda of Israel’s Supreme Planning Council that meets next week, although only 1,332 are up for final approval, with the remainder still going through the preliminary clearance process.

“We will continue to develop the settlements and strengthen the Israeli hold on the territory,” said Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also holds a defense portfolio that gives him a leading role in West Bank administration.

Since entering office in January, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s latest coalition has rubber-stamped the promotion of more than 7,000 new housing units.

In response to Sunday’s Israeli decision, the Palestinian Authority – which exercises limited self-rule in parts of the West Bank – said it would boycott a meeting of the Joint Economic Committee with Israel scheduled for Monday.

While it is typically said that Palestinians seek to establish an independent sate in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with eastern Jerusalem as their capital, factional divides complicate any such vision. The rivalry between Fatah — a faction at least nominally committed to seeking a diplomatic resolution — and Hamas — an antisemitic terrorist group committed to Israel’s destruction — is the central reality of Palestinian politics, which complicates any prospect of peace talks with Israel.

Peace talks that had been brokered by the United States have been frozen since 2014.