Thousands of new housing units will be built in Judea and Samaria, Defense Minister Naftali Bennett said on Wednesday.
Fresh construction for the settlement of Efrat was approved on land that could accommodate around 7,000 housing units.
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"The building momentum in the country must not be stopped, even for a second," Bennett tweeted.
The United States has offered to recognize Israeli sovereignty in parts of Judea and Samaria as part of a proposal President Donald Trump unveiled in February, which also envisages talks on founding a Palestinian state in up to 70% of the territory.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo plans to visit Israel next week, a source said, a sign that he is weighing in on a territorial issue that has been a centerpiece of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition-building efforts.
Netanyahu wants to ally with political rival Benny Gantz and start cabinet discussions on July 1 about declaring Israeli sovereignty over settlements and the strategically key Jordan Valley in the West Bank. The unity government deal has been contested in the High Court of Justice.
Pompeo planned to visit Israel for one day next week and meet Netanyahu, a person briefed on the trip said, without elaborating on the agenda. The US State Department had no immediate comment.
In an interview with Israel Hayom, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said that sovereignty in the West Bank Jewish communities and the Jordan Valley was "an Israeli issue" and added: "We are ready."
