In a move certain to aggravate tensions with Palestinians, the Israeli government has approved construction of 8,000 homes in three Jewish settlements on the West Bank.

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Plans to build the homes were approved several years ago but were frozen by the previous government as a gesture of appeasement toward the Palestinians, Defense Ministry spokesman Avi Beniyahu said Tuesday. Any construction in settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war, must be approved by Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai.The Palestinians consider settlement expansion to be a violation of the Israeli-Palestinian interim accords, which call for the status quo to be maintained in the West Bank and Gaza until a final peace settlement is negotiated.

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