DHAKA: Israel approved plans for nearly 14,000 new settler homes during the nine months of peace talks with the Palestinians, an Israeli settlement watchdog said on Tuesday as the negotiation period formally ended.

Figures quoted by Peace Now showed that during the talks, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government approved at least 13,851 new housing through the advancement of plans and the publication of tenders.

‘This is an unprecedented number representing an average of 50 housing units per day or 1,540 per month,’ it said, reports The Straits Times.

‘Netanyahu broke construction records during the nine-month peace talks,’ Peace Now head Yariv Oppenheimer told media.

BDST: 1325 HRS, APR 29, 2014