Israeli defense minister announced a new task force to strengthen Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, local media reported on Thursday.
According to Israeli daily Haaretz, Naftali Bennett, who is also the head of New Right party, established a task force to develop plans for the future of Area C of the West Bank and then advocate them.
"During the past few weeks settlers' leaders in the West Bank have been invited to series of meetings … where they raised issues to be advanced in the upcoming months," Haaretz reported.
According to the newspaper, the proposed plans would legalize unauthorized outposts and allow individual Israelis to privately buy land in the West Bank.
"It also includes hooking up outposts to water and electricity," it added.
Legal sources, familiar with Bennett's plan, told Haaretz that it might face some legal difficulties as some of the proposed moves are effectively equivalent to annexing parts of the West Bank.
EU CONDEMN ISRAELI PLANS FOR 2,000 HOMES IN WEST BANK
The European Union on Thursday condemned Israel's plans to build nearly 2,000 homes in the West Bank, repeating its warning that such construction is illegal under international law.
Israel advanced construction plans for 1,936 homes in the occupied West Bank earlier this week, according to an Israeli watchdog group.
"We call on the government of Israel to fully comply with international law [and] end all settlement activity on occupied territories and related actions," the EU said in a statement.
Germany's Foreign Office separately issued a statement condemning the planned construction on Wednesday night. "The German government calls for refraining from activities that may further complicate a peaceful resolution to conflict in the Middle East," a spokesman said.
According to a 2016 UN Security Council resolution, Israeli settlements are considered illegal under international law and are seen as one of the major hurdles to peace in the Middle East.
Last year, however, the US announced that it was reversing its policy, saying settlements were not inconsistent with international law, a move welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Settlements are continuing to expand unchecked under Netanyahu's right-wing government, with projects advancing through the approval process with each quarterly session of the planning committee.
Israel seized control of the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the 1967 Six-Day War. Today, more than 600,000 Jewish settlers live in those areas. The Palestinians want the territories for their own future state, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
