Ahead of elections, Israel approves new West Bank settlement

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The Cabinet headed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday approved a new settlement in the West Bank, two days ahead of the general elections in the country.

During the meeting, Netanyahu said that Israeli sovereignty will be applied in the Jordan Valley and the Northern Dead Sea region as soon as the next government takes office.

"We will apply sovereignty in the Jordan Valley and the Northern Dead Sea as soon as the next government is established in the next Knesset," Netanyahu was quoted by The Jerusalem Post as saying.

The right-wing leader said that he instructed his director-general to pull together a team to create a plan for sovereignty application.

"The application of Israeli sovereignty will be to all the settlements in Judea and Samaria, including the blocs and the territory outside of the blocs, and other areas that are essential to our security and our heritage - these things will be part of (US President Donald Trump's) Deal of the Century, which will come out very soon after the elections," Netanyahu said referring to Trump's peace plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Netanyahu vowed to establish an annexation plan for 31 settlements after the formation of a new government, including in Jordan Valley. He also promised to annex all of the West Bank settlements, including those in isolated areas.

Interestingly, the Cabinet meeting was held in the Jordan Valley, in a move seen as Israel's commitment to apply its sovereignty in parts of West Bank. Such a meeting of the government was last held in the region back in 2001.

Earlier this week, Netanyahu had promised to annex the Jordan Valley if he was re-elected.

Some 600,000 Israelis now live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in heavily guarded settlements along with about 2.9 million Palestinians, according to Israeli figures.