Israel to legalise 9 Jewish settlements in occupied West Bank

Jerusalem: Israel's administration announced on Sunday its decision to legalise nine settlements in the occupied West Bank, citing the series of attacks in east Jerusalem, Agence France-Presse reported.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office released a statement that the said decision was in response to the attacks. In such an attack, three Israelis got killed on Friday.

AFP quoted the statement, "In response to the murderous terrorist attacks in Jerusalem, the security cabinet decided unanimously to authorise nine communities in Judea and Samaria."

"These communities have existed for many years; some have existed for decades," the statement read.

AFP reported that the so-called "wild" settlement did not get the Israel government's authorisation to build, but Netanyahu-government will give approval for the settlement.

The statement said that the Civil Administration Higher Planning Committee would convene in the upcoming days to approve the construction of the new residential units in Judea and Samaria.

Further, the statement said that the government's security cabinet made a list of additional decisions "in the framework of the determined fight against terrorism". The government will strengthen security forces in Jerusalem.

On Sunday, Netanyahu said that he wanted to strengthen the settlements while they are illegal by international law.

He also wanted to remove the Israeli nationality of "terrorists". This will affect Israeli Arabs and Palestinians with resident status in east Jerusalem, the city annexed by Israel.

According to statistics, more than 4,75,000 Israelis live in settlements in West Bank, where 2.8 million Palestinians live.

There were multiple attacks by Palestinians on Israelis and Israeli forces on Palestinians. One Palestinian allegedly killed three Israelis, including two children, while Israeli forces killed a Palestinian teen during raids in the last three days.