2 more Israeli settlements approved for West Bank

Israel has approved the establishment of two more Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank of Jordan, the government secretary said Monday. They will bring to 53 the number of settlements built in the West Bank since Israel captured the area from Jordan in the 1967 war. One of the settlements is to be built on public land and the other on land owned by Jews since before 1948.

The decision was made as the United States, which has opposed such settlements, was preoccupied with events in Afghanistan and Iran.