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.

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The report attributed the rise in the amount of new mortgages to an increased number of new mortgages taken out under the government-subsidized Mehir Lemishtaken ("Move-In Price") program for first-time homebuyers. Under the terms of Mehir Lemishtaken, buyers are allowed to take out a mortgage for up to 90% of the price of an apartment valued up to 1.3 million shekels ($370,000), in contrast to a minimum down payment of 25% required to take out a mortgage under general terms.

The Finance Ministry launched the 90% mortgage terms in 2018, hoping to help new homebuyers, especially young families, find a solution to surging property values.

Near-zero interest rates have made housing a top investment in Israel. Israel's home prices have more than doubled in the past decade to an average of about NIS 1.5 million ($430,000).

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Chairman of the RCA Eran Siv explained Monday that buildings in the south of the country are inherently more vulnerable than buildings in central Israel.

"Most of the homes in the [southern] area have tiled roofs, so the damage in the case of a direct hit, or even a rocket falling nearby, is much bigger than to a building that has a concrete roof," Siv told Israel Hayom.

"A tile roof doesn't prevent or stop a rocket from entering, so the damage caused to the structure and the inside of an apartment is much greater," he explained.

The recent round of violence saw about 35 rockets and mortars land in populated areas. In some cases, the strikes caused massive damage to the surrounding buildings.

According to Siv, renovations assessed at 43,000 shekels or less can be completed by any contractor, whereas more expensive repairs require property owners to hire a contractor registered with the Construction and Housing Ministry. In cases where a rocket strike caused a fire, the renovation is more costly.

Siv laid out the options for property owners whose assets were damaged by the violence: "The first step is for a property tax adjuster to assess the damage. Then, it is repaired. In cases of relatively minor damage, the owner can hire a contractor and then file a request for reimbursement with the property tax authorities, but for large-scale work, the construction companies do all the work without 'civilians' having to lay out a penny."

Siv also argues that the government must allow any property owner whose home was damaged in the attacks to rebuild to a higher safety standard and that the government must shoulder all the costs.

"I'm calling on the prime minister and the cabinet to consider the families' difficult situation and allow them to go back to a stronger, better-defended home and not have to make do with an approval for the minimum renovation necessary to restore the building to its former state," he said.

As of Monday afternoon, the Israel Tax Authority – whose property tax division handles requests for compensation for damage caused by war – had received 291 requests to cover the cost of repairs to buildings in southern Israel. The largest number of requests were for buildings in Ashkelon (142), followed by Ashdod (79), Sderot (24) and Kiryat Gat (20).

In addition, 137 requests were filed for compensation for damages to vehicles and seven requests were filed for compensation for damage to farm crops. The ITA approved 70% of the requests for compensation and expects the total number of requests to reach 600.

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The ministry plans to allow young couples to borrow up to 90% of the value of homes valued at up to 1.3 million shekels ($363,000).

The Bank of Israel set a cap of 75% earlier this decade to slow price rises, but property values have continued to rise.

The ministry did not provide any further details on its plan to raise the cap to 90%. According to Israeli media reports, the government would have to provide funding or guarantees for loans above 75%.

Near-zero interest rates have made housing a top investment in Israel. Israel's home prices have more than doubled in the past decade to an average of about NIS 1.5 million ($420,000).

Apartments in Tel Aviv cost more than NIS 2 million ($560,000) on average and in Jerusalem cost NIS 1.9 million ($530,000).

A Bank of Israel spokesman said the government had not approached the bank with a plan to raise the mortgage cap and declined to comment further.

Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, who campaigned in the 2015 election on reducing house prices, has sought to make it simpler to obtain permits to build new homes, offered developers discounts on buying land and provided subsidies for some new building projects.

In March, the central bank said the subsidies had created a two-tier system, with some benefitting from assistance and others struggling to afford homes at free market prices.

Housing starts in Israel fell to 49,660 in 2017 from 55,622 the previous year. In the second quarter of 2018, there were 11,228 starts, compared with 12,798 a year earlier.

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