Israel has announced plans to build 2,000 illegal settlement units in East Jerusalem (al-Quds) in the West Bank

Israel has announced plans to build 2,000 illegal settlement units in East Jerusalem (al-Quds) in the West Bank.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his forum of eight senior ministers decided Tuesday to initiate a new wave of settlement construction in the West Bank, as part of a wider set of sanctions Israel decided to impose on the Palestinian Authority after it was accepted to UNESCO as a member on Monday.

Netanyahu's office said Tuesday that the construction of 2,000 housing units planned in occupied East Jerusalem, Gush Etzion, and Ma'aleh Adumim should be expedited.

"All of the mentioned areas are ones that would remain in Israeli control under any future peace agreement," Netanyahu's office said in a statement.

The eight senior ministers also decided to suspend the transfer of tax money which the Israeli enemy has collected for the Palestinian Authority in October. The money, which amounts to more than NIS 300 million, was supposed to be transferred to the Palestinian Authority before the Eid al-Adha holiday, when the money was to be used to pay the salaries of policemen and clerks of the Palestinian Authority, according to Haaretz.