<p class="title">Israeli authorities on Wednesday approved plans for more than 1,000 settlement homes in the occupied West Bank, the Peace Now NGO said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The plans for 1,004 homes approved by a defence ministry committee are at various stages in the process.</p>.<p class="bodytext">They include 370 housing units in the Adam settlement, where three Israelis were stabbed by a Palestinian in July, one fatally, said Peace Now, which closely monitors Israeli settlement building.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman had pledged to build 400 new homes in the settlement in response to the stabbings.</p>.<p class="bodytext">According to Peace Now, 96% of those approved "are in isolated settlements that Israel will likely need to evacuate within the framework of a two-state agreement."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Israeli settlements are considered a violation of international law and major stumbling blocks to peace efforts as they are built on land the Palestinians want for their future state.</p>.<p class="bodytext">There have been warnings that the continuing expansion of settlements is diminishing any remaining hopes for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Israel dismisses those arguments, blaming Palestinian intransigence, violence and "incitement" against it for stalled peace efforts.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Trump's administration has been far less critical of settlement building than his predecessor Barack Obama.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Peace Now says West Bank settlement plans increased to 6,742 units in 2017 compared with 2,629 the previous year, Obama's last in office.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Plans have been advanced for 3,794 units so far this year, the NGO said.</p>
<p class="title">Israeli authorities on Wednesday approved plans for more than 1,000 settlement homes in the occupied West Bank, the Peace Now NGO said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The plans for 1,004 homes approved by a defence ministry committee are at various stages in the process.</p>.<p class="bodytext">They include 370 housing units in the Adam settlement, where three Israelis were stabbed by a Palestinian in July, one fatally, said Peace Now, which closely monitors Israeli settlement building.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman had pledged to build 400 new homes in the settlement in response to the stabbings.</p>.<p class="bodytext">According to Peace Now, 96% of those approved "are in isolated settlements that Israel will likely need to evacuate within the framework of a two-state agreement."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Israeli settlements are considered a violation of international law and major stumbling blocks to peace efforts as they are built on land the Palestinians want for their future state.</p>.<p class="bodytext">There have been warnings that the continuing expansion of settlements is diminishing any remaining hopes for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Israel dismisses those arguments, blaming Palestinian intransigence, violence and "incitement" against it for stalled peace efforts.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Trump's administration has been far less critical of settlement building than his predecessor Barack Obama.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Peace Now says West Bank settlement plans increased to 6,742 units in 2017 compared with 2,629 the previous year, Obama's last in office.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Plans have been advanced for 3,794 units so far this year, the NGO said.</p>