Israel has given final approval for 90 new settler homes in Beit El settlement near Ramallah in a move likely to spark tension ahead of a top-level visit by US President Barack Obama.

Israel has given final approval for 90 new settler homes in Beit El settlement near Ramallah in a move likely to spark tension ahead of a top-level visit by US President Barack Obama, AFP quoted officials and an NGO as saying Monday.

Hagit Ofran of the Peace Now settlement watchdog told the agency that “the plans had been published for validation in an Israeli newspaper in what was the final stage of approval, meaning construction of the new homes could begin within a few days.”

The plans were signed off by Zionist Defense Minister Ehud Barak in August but received the final rubber stamp on Sunday by the Civil Administration's planning committee, she further said.

The move comes just days after the White House announced that Obama would make his first-ever visit to Israel as president on a trip expected to take place in late March.

According to AFP, a Zionist Civil Administration spokesman confirmed the approval for the 90 units, saying they had been signed off by the political establishment.

"We're talking about the validation of a project which was already approved in August ... in the framework of orders from the political establishment after the High Court decision," he told AFP.

Ofran said it meant the bulldozers could now get to work immediately.

"They can start building within a few days," she said.

On Sunday, the Zionist Defense Ministry confirmed it had given the green light for the construction of 346 new settler homes in two settlements in the southern West Bank: 200 housing units in Tekoa and 146 in Nokdim.