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Israel okays new building projects in West Bank despite moratorium
The Israeli government Wednesday authorized the construction of another 84 new homes in West Bank settlements, despite the building moratorium it announced last week, Israel Radio reported.
Last week, Israel okay-ed the construction of 28 public buildings including schools and kindergartens, as the moratorium on Israeli construction in the occupied territory applies to residential buildings only.
Also exempt from the partial building suspension announced by the right-leaning government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are some 3,000 residential apartments whose construction had already begun.
But the 84 additional new apartments authorized Wednesday are not included in that category of exceptions to the moratorium, because construction of them has not yet begun and their foundations are not yet in place.
The approvals for the new homes were given nonetheless after talks between Israeli government officials and angry settler leaders.