Peace Now, which monitors settlement expansion, warned yesterday that the new approvals are likely to escalate tensions, especially as Palestinians in the occupied West Bank endure intensified raids by Israeli forces and settlers amid Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza.

​​​​​​​"Israel’s settlement expansion continues to be a driver of conflict in the occupied West Bank, further entrenching the occupation and undermining the right of Palestinians to self-determination and independent statehood," said the UN official in a press statement.

More than 20,000 units were totally destroyed or rendered uninhabitable