The Zionist entity is preparing for a huge expansion of the Itamar settlement in the northern West Bank.

The Zionist entity is preparing for a huge expansion of the Itamar settlement in the northern West Bank, the Peace Now settler watchdog said on Monday.

The plan, which has yet to be approved, would see the illegal Itamar expanding five-fold from 137 homes to 675.

According to Peace Now spokesman Lior Amihai, a so-called ‘defense ministry committee’ was to convene on Wednesday to start preparing plans for adding 538 residential units.

"We see this as very dramatic," he told Agence France Presse. "To enlarge it to 675 is to enlarge the settlement to almost five times its size."

The defense ministry said the meeting was primarily about approval for buildings already in place, and stressed that plans for new construction had not yet been approved.

Observers also suggested the plans to enlarge the settlement could be linked to an upcoming Palestinian bid, forcefully opposed by the Zionist enemy and the United States, to secure upgraded membership at the United Nations.

In November 2011, the Zionist entity of occupation decided to speed up construction in annexed east Jerusalem and other areas to punish the Palestinians for winning membership in the UN cultural agency UNESCO.

Last Tuesday, the entity published tenders for 1,213 new settler homes in east Jerusalem, prompting the Palestinians to say it made them more determined to seek greater UN status.