TEHRAN (FNA)- The Israeli regime has increased its illegal settlement construction by 130 percent so far this year in comparison to last year, a report said."At least 32,000 housing units have been built since the beginning of 2013, with seven percent of them built in the Jerusalem (al-Quds) settlements," the Middle East Monitor publication quoted Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics as saying on Friday, Islam Times reported.
According to the report, Israeli Minister of Housing Uri Ariel said that the illegal construction "will continue to rise at a rapid pace," adding that the majority of ministers in the cabinet of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu support it.
The presence and continued expansion of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine has created a major obstacle for the efforts to establish peace in the Middle East.
More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 illegal settlements built since Israels occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds in 1967.
The United Nations and most countries regard the Israeli settlements as illegal because the territories were captured by Israel in a war in 1967 and are hence subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbids construction on occupied lands.
By Fars News Agency
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