Israel has advanced plans to build nearly 2,000 new homes in Judea and Samaria settlements, a report by human rights group Peace Now said Monday.
Peace Now said nearly 800 housing units received the final approvals needed for construction to begin. It said initial approvals were given for an additional 1,150 homes. Settlement projects require several rounds of approvals.
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According to the group's report, the projects include retroactive legalization of two small outposts that were built without authorization.
The Palestinians seek the West Bank and east Jerusalem as parts of a future independent state. The Palestinians, and most of the international community, consider Israeli settlement activity to be illegal.
In a break from its Republican and Democratic predecessors, the Trump administration said in November that settlements are not illegal under international law.
According to official data compiled by Peace Now, settlement planning and construction has spiked since President Donald Trump took office.
The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague announced last month that she believes there is a basis for investigating Israel's settlement policies in the West Bank, and that they could constitute a war crime.
Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has asked the court to determine whether she has jurisdiction before opening a formal investigation. Israel has argued that the West Bank is disputed territory whose fate should be resolved in negotiations and Bensouda has no jurisdiction.
