The Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now said in a report published Sunday there is no sign of a slowdown in the construction of West Bank settlements despite Israel's announcement that it has stopped approving new building tenders.
According to Peace Now, settlement construction is continuing and settlers can easily build thousands of housing units based on old plans that have already been approved. There is existing permission for the construction of up to 40,000 housing units, the report said, according to the AP. Construction has started on some 600 new housing units in 2009, it said.
"There is no settlement freeze," Peace Now leader Yariv Oppenheimer said.
