It said the decision was taken on October 10 and that 59 percent of the new homes will be erected in "settlements that Israel likely may evacuate under a peace agreement" with the Palestinians.

According to Peace Now, which closely monitors Israeli settlement building, plans for 8,337 housing units in the settlements have been approved since the beginning of the year.

It said this represented an increase of close to 50 percent compared with 2018 when plans for 5,618 housing units were approved.

"This brings the average number of housing units approved in the three years since President Trump was elected, to 6,899 housing units, almost twice the average in the three years preceding them," said the NGO.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2019