Israel granted retroactive authorisation on Sunday to nine Jewish settler outposts in the occupied West Bank and announced the construction of new homes within established settlements, moves likely to draw U.S. opposition.
The first to publish the decisions by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet were two pro-settler ministers, whose inclusion in the coalition he built after a Nov. 1 election had already signalled a hard-right tack.
Most world powers consider the settlements illegal for taking up land where the Palestinians seek statehood. Israel disputes this, and since capturing the West Bank in a 1967 war, successive governments have set up or approved 132 settlements.
