Israel OK’s plans for thousands of new settlement homes, defying White House calls for restraint

JERUSALEM — Israel’s far-right government on Monday approved plans to build thousands of new homes in the occupied West Bank — a move that threatened to worsen increasingly strained relations with the United States.

The decision defied growing U.S. criticism of Israel’s settlement policies in occupied lands. It also raised tensions with the Palestinians at a time of rising violence in the occupied territory.

Multiple Israeli media outlets said the Defense Ministry planning committee that oversees settlement construction approved over 5,000 new settlement homes. The units are at various stages of planning, and it was not immediately clear when construction would begin. The ministry did not immediately comment.