Israel OKs Settlement Building Amid Standoff With Settlers

The Israeli Prime Minister’s office said Wednesday it has approved the “immediate construction” of 300 housing units in the West Bank settlement of Beit El and has advanced plans for 504 new housing units in Israeli settlement areas in east Jerusalem

An Israeli crane lifts a section of concrete as they build a defensive wall around the Israeli settlement of Beit El, in the occupied West Bank north of Ramallah on April 7, 2015, next to a road used by Palestinians from the adjacent Jalazon refugee camp. Abbas Momani/AFP/Getty Images

JERUSALEM—The Israeli Prime Minister’s office said Wednesday it has approved the “immediate construction” of 300 housing units in the West Bank settlement of Beit El and has advanced plans for 504 new housing units in Israeli settlement areas in east Jerusalem.

The announcement came amid a standoff in Beit El, where Israeli settlers clashed with Israeli forces as authorities began to demolish a contested West Bank settlement housing complex there. Israel’s Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that it must be demolished.

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