Israel said the newly announced settlements​ in the occupied West Bank would include the legalization of outposts already built without government authorization.

Israel approved a massive expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank this week in a move described as a continuation of de facto annexation of the territory.

Israel has built about 160 settlements housing some 700,000 Jews since it occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem - land Palestinians want, along with Gaza, for their hoped-for future state - in the 1967 Middle East war. An estimated 3.3 million Palestinians live alongside them.