LONDON: Israel has approved a budget of $270 million to build roads on Palestinian-owned land in the occupied West Bank to connect Israeli settlements.
On Monday 3 million shekels ($1 million) was allocated for the design and development of the plan which will be presented to the government for approval within 45 days.
The Palestinian Authority said that the move was part of accelerated “colonial activity” in the West Bank since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government took office at the end of 2012, the Wafa news agency reported.
About 500,000 Israeli settlers live in hundreds of illegal settlements and small outposts in the West Bank, with 250,000 more living in East Jerusalem.
Israel has built a network of roads in the West Bank since 1967 to connect settlements while simultaneously restricting the expansion of Palestinian villages into larger towns.
After the Al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000 Israel established hundreds of military checkpoints and constructed a nearly 700 km long separation wall, further isolating communities. Palestinians are prohibited from driving on some of the Israeli-constructed roads, such as Route 443, which is referred to as “Apartheid Road” by rights groups.
