Israel PM seeks to build 300 settler homes after attack

JERUSALEM (AA) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday ordered the construction of hundreds of settlement units near the site of a bomb attack that killed a teen in the occupied West Bank.

A statement by his office said the premier has directed his director general to submit for the approval of a new 300-home neighborhood in the settlement of Dolev.

An Israeli girl from the settlement was killed and two of her family were injured in a bomb attack last week.

"We will deepen our roots and strike at our enemies," the statement quoted Netanyahu as saying. "We will continue to strengthen and develop the settlements."

The move drew a swift condemnation from Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the umbrella Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

"The insane settlement escalation…reflects the colonial mentality of the war contractor Netanyahu and his extremist government,” Ashrawi said in a statement.

"In the context of the election race, Netanyahu is satisfying the extremist settlers to win their votes and continues to steal and seize our land and resources."

Israel is planning to hold general election next month.

Roughly 650,000 Israeli Jews currently live in more than 100 settlements built since 1967, when Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The Palestinians want these territories -- along with the Gaza Strip -- for the establishment of a future Palestinian state.

International law views both the West Bank and East Jerusalem as "occupied territories" and considers all Jewish settlement-building activity there as illegal.