Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has approved a plan to construct hundreds of homes in an unauthorised outpost in the occupied West Bank, a local rights group said Tuesday. According to Bimkom, Barak recently approved a plan for the construction of 300 housing units in an outpost next to the settlement of Talmon, northwest of Ramallah. “The plan intends to create territorial contiguity between the settlement of Talmon and the Water Reservoir Hill outpost and to enlarge the settlement, at the expense of Palestinian villagers in the area,” the group said in a statement. Although the plan has yet to be given the final go-ahead, it was likely to be approved in the coming months in a move bound to further strain ties with the United States. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has vowed to dismantle more than 20 outposts on private Palestinian land, but the hawkish premier has refused to halt construction within existing settlements.
