Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced plans to expand the illegal Israeli settlement of Eli near Nablus in the occupied West Bank with 763 new housing units. Smotrich disclosed the plan in an interview with Israel's Channel 14 on Saturday. According to Turkey-based Anadolu Agency, the additional units would triple the settlement's size over the coming years.

Smotrich said the Israeli government had decided to continue establishing new farms and settlements in the West Bank. The expansion plan was made public after a deadly confrontation near Nablus. According to the Palestinian Authority, clashes followed an attack by extremist Israeli settlers near the village of Tal, southwest of Nablus, last Friday, killing four Palestinians and two Israelis.

Earlier this month, Smotrich said Israel's security cabinet had approved a budget of 1.3 billion shekels, about $434 million, for 34 new settlements in the occupied West Bank. He also said that since the current government took office in late 2022, it had approved 104 new settlements and 160 agricultural outposts in the West Bank. Under international law, all Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory are illegal.