Israeli authorities have approved a project to build about 700 new settler units in occupied East al-Quds despite the international outcry against the Tel Aviv regime’s land grab policies in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Ir Amim, an Israeli watchdog group that tracks settlements, said in a statement on Tuesday that the regime had published its approval of the Givat Shaked settlement plan for 695 housing units on lands in the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Safafa.

“This joins a spate of settlement advancements in East al-Quds since October 7, including several plan approvals and publication of tenders,” it said in a statement.

The regime in recent months has also stepped up demolishing the homes of Palestinians “suspected of carrying out attacks” on Israelis.  

The latest approval comes as the Israeli regime and extremist settlers have stepped up violent attacks on Palestinians and settlement activities. 

 Israel has ramped up its aggression against Palestinians across the West Bank since October 7, when it launched a genocidal war against the Gaza Strip.

Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed and thousands of others injured by Israeli settlers or troops across the occupied territory since the onset of the war.

Israel’s war to “root out” Palestinian resistance movement Hamas in the aftermath of the latter’s October 7 Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, which killed more than 23,000 civilians in the Gaza Strip, is no longer confined to the besieged territory.

While all eyes are on Gaza, the Israeli regime has been tightening its grip on the occupied West Bank, carrying out deadly attacks and raids on residential areas and hospitals.

Palestinians in the West Bank are now facing death and widespread displacement.

In the most recent indent of violence on Tuesday, Israeli forces killed three more Palestinians during a fresh raid on the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarm.