This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page law by law: from forcing cell phone companies to expand coverage in the occupied territories to laws that facilitate the transfer of public funds to settlements This is how Netanyahu's far-right government is working towards de facto annexation 2024Get email notification for articles from Tali Heruti-Sover FollowApr 9 the Economy Ministry sent out an announcement to journalists on behalf of Minister Nir Barkat about a new program to train 5,000 Israeli workers for the construction industry the announcement noted that the pilot will take place "in cooperation with the Gush Etzion Development Company and the Israel Construction Center." Residents of the haredi city of Modi'in Illit have warned that the sewage tunnels can serve as passage for Palestinian Authority Arab infiltrators from the town of Bil'in The danger was initially reported by MK Yossi Taieb (Shas) "The Neot Hapisga and Heftziba neighborhoods in Modi'in Illit are vulnerable to infiltrations from Bil'in due to the removal of blockades in the concrete tunnels." Taieb described the dangerous phenomenon: "Between the Neot Hapisga and Heftziba neighborhoods and the town of Bil'in there are wide concrete tunnels which are used for sewage In order to prevent the infiltration of thieves or terrorists concrete barricades were placed near the city apparently with the knowledge of the army and the administration for the 'seam line,' who are responsible for the welfare of Modi'in Illit's residents and the situation right now is that the passage is open." "Even a motorcycle could pass through these tunnels This fact has already sparked a wave of theft and we are also concerned of terror attacks the IDF confirmed the details and testified to its role in the matter: "In these rainy days the administration operates using a policy of opening the grilles (including fences) to prevent the collapse of the obstacle due to the large amounts of rain which are flowing through the passages below it This policy is called the 'storm policy' and under it we reduce to a minimum the amount of time needed to open the grilles in the water passage." The IDF and Seam Line Administration also noted that the water passages were open between January 25 and February 4 The IDF also noted that any opening of the grilles is coordinated with the brigade in charge of the region are responsible for Modi'in Illit's internal security Taieb removed his proposal from the day's itinerary at the request of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (Likud) after he was promised that the matter would be dealt with and properly fixed in Judea and Samaria | Illustration: AP/Ariel Schalit The government approved tenders for nearly 2,600 new residential units in Judea and Samaria and east Jerusalem Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter the tenders provide for the construction of 2,112 housing units in the Judea and Samaria and 460 in east Jerusalem "Our out-of-touch government leadership continues to press on with its mad scramble to promote as much settlement activity as possible until the last minutes before the change of the administration in Washington," said Peace Now The report comes after Israel approved 780 new settler homes in Judea and Samaria on Sunday "We have only recently finished debriefing the events of Oct 7," Israel Police Commissioner Yaakov Shabtai says   The 7th Annual Waste Management Conference comes as Israel faces a critical juncture in waste management... Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund has unveiled rare archival photos Analysis  Archaeology Blogpost Business & Finance Culture Exclusive Explainer Environment Features Health In Brief Jewish World Judea and Samaria Lifestyle Cyber & Internet Sports Diplomacy  Iran & The Gulf Gaza Strip Politics Shopping Terms of use Privacy Policy Submissions Contact Us The first issue of Israel Hayom appeared on July 30 Israel Hayom was founded on the belief that the Israeli public deserves better more balanced and more accurate journalism [contact-form-7 id=”508379″ html_id=”isrh_form_Newsletter_en” title=”newsletter_subscribe”] Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker The meaning of his song is more powerful than its roar Our weekly email is chockful of interesting and relevant insights into Jewish history Each element of nature brings out a different aspect revealing God's majesty and flawless benevolence Even if the animals and inanimate creations have no mouths with which to sing their very existence and function form a constant song of divine beauty Yet they can only properly express their message if we utter the verses that they sing and live according to their meaning were traditionally composed by King David and King Solomon “Song of Existence” is a new video series which brings to life the music of the spiritual orchestra of Creation son of the late Rabbi Ze’ev Kraines of Ohr Somayach Sandton grew up in South Africa and studied in Yeshivas Ateres Yisrael in Jerusalem he continued his studies in various Kollelim in Modiin Ilit for another nine years He then widened his focus of Torah study to include learning He lives with his family in Modi’in Ilit Thank you for signing up for the aish.com free newsletter The Monitor is owned by The Christian Science Church and we’ve always been transparent about that The Church publishes the Monitor because it sees good journalism as vital to progress in the world you’ll find award-winning journalism not driven by commercial influences – a news organization that takes seriously its mission to uplift the world by seeking solutions and finding reasons for credible hope A deeper view that unites instead of divides Behind the news are values that drive people and nations Discover the values that drive the story The Monitor Daily amplifies and clarifies how we deliver on the Monitor’s purpose to benefit humanity by reporting what is happening in the world and why – and how this information matters to you The Christian Science Monitor's coverage of the war between Hamas and Israel We want to bridge divides to reach everyone The end goal of the current Israeli-Palestinian peace talks is two separate Palestinians say that the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank Here are the five most populous Israeli settlements in the West Bank Modiin Illit sits about halfway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. With more than 42,000 settlers today, Modiin Illit alone has about four times the number of settlers that were in the entire Gaza Strip before the 2005 disengagement See map *Editor's note: The original version of this story used an earlier date from the Foundation for Middle East Peace but the official Israeli statistics give 1996 as the founding date Already a subscriber? Login Monitor journalism changes lives because we open that too-small box that most people think they live in We believe news can and should expand a sense of identity and possibility beyond narrow conventional expectations Our work isn't possible without your support Return to the free version of the site Return to the free version of the site The Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) published data on the number of children in Israel Modi'in Ilit is the city with the highest percentage of children The data show that in urban localities the percentage of children (32.7%) is lower than that in rural localities (37.1%) Modi'in Illit is the urban population with the highest percentage of children with 64.4%; Beitar Illit is second with 61.5% and Elad is third with 59.2% Kiryat Yam has the lowest percentage of children in the country with 20.9% Mahane Yatir is the rural township with the highest percentage of children with 67.9% while the township of Ahva has the lowest percentage with just 4.3% the relative share of children in the population is close to 40%; In Haifa and Tel Aviv-Yafo the children constitute about one-fifth of the city's population (23% and 21% The number of children below the age of 17 per household was 2.46 on the national level In the large cities (with more than 100,000 residents) the highest percentage of children was in Beit Shemesh (52.1%) followed by Bnei Brak (47.4%) and Jerusalem (39.4%) the percentage of children was lower than the national level (33%) The lowest percentage of children in large cities was in Tel Aviv-Yafo and in Bat Yam - 21.0% At the end of 2017 there were 2.908 million children in Israel constituting 33.1% of the country's population 2,086 million were Jewish children (71.8%) 728,000 were Arab children (25.0%) and 94,000 were children (3.2%) who were classified as belonging to other groups The Yesha council has published their population report on the towns of Judea The largest cities in Judea and Samaria are Modiin Ilit with a total population of 220884 residents Local councils in Judea and Samaria include 118535 residents and account for 22.9% of all of the population The Binyamin Council has the most residents The largest town that is not a local council or city is Kochav Yaakov The towns that have exhibited the most growth are Maaleh Amos with 24.5% growth over 2023 including the young and developing town of Ibei Hanahal Other towns with notable growth include Mevo’ot Yericho with 22.8% The largest growth in terms of regional councils happened in the Jordan Valley Other regional councils have grown as well The local councils with the most growth were Emmanuel with 7.4% followed by Givat Zeev with 5.4% and Beit El with 3.8% due to the occupation of newly constructed neighborhoods the head of the Gush Etzion regional council and the Yesha council welcomed the report: “Settlement in Judea and Samaria is one of the most important and significant activities for ensuring the future of the Jewish nation in its ancestral homeland Every new town established and house built strengthens our hold on the land of our fathers and adds another vital brick to the building of the nation.” “These data are additional proof that there is great demand for cities More and more young families that come from all parts of Israel's population are choosing to make their house in this region I am happy to see the growth in the different towns a young town in eastern Gush Etzion that has over the past few years developed and provided a solution for families that want to build their household in a high-quality communal environment." “We call on the government and its leader to end the freeze and convene the Supreme Planning Council to approve another thousand housing units that will provide a solution for this great demand Every housing unit not planned this year will not be built in the next three years The government of Israel and its leader must understand that we have reached the point at which the enemy should receive their answer not only in Gaza and Lebanon Depart from evil by killing the Nazi enemy '#' : location.hash;window._cf_chl_opt.cOgUQuery = location.search === '' && location.href.slice(0 location.href.length - window._cf_chl_opt.cOgUHash.length).indexOf('?') !== -1 '?' : location.search;if (window.history && window.history.replaceState) {var ogU = location.pathname + window._cf_chl_opt.cOgUQuery + window._cf_chl_opt.cOgUHash;history.replaceState(null "\/its-time-to-promote-advancement-of-ultra-orthodox-working-women\/?__cf_chl_rt_tk=Ea4TJtzmJ10HWn3_oX1ALcMIp586oFIjq4QNi0a.KqY-1746491884-1.0.1.1-4hAPae9l6_kc9TvJRBn9Govm1aqxX7K2ZesQL6z7XQ4" + window._cf_chl_opt.cOgUHash);cpo.onload = function() {history.replaceState(null ogU);}}document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(cpo);}()); Ultra-Orthodox Jews praying after harvesting wheat at a settlement near Modi’in-Maccabim-Re’ut The growing demand for housing in Israel’s rapidly expanding ultra-Orthodox community has led to a paradox, according to the Times of Israel: the population of the two largest settlements in the West Bank is almost all Hasidic even though they do not have much nationalist zeal According to Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics ultra-Orthodox Jews make up 30% of the 400,000 Israelis living in the West Bank is the largest settlement city with 65,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews 50,000 residents are ultra-Orthodox — and nearly two-thirds are under 18 years old Ultra-Orthodox Jews were initially opposed to settling the West Bank But overcrowding in Jerusalem and in Orthodox sections of the Tel Aviv metro area have made settlement an easy choice for many “What may have started as a method to solve the housing crisis in Haredi communities has also become an opportunity for them to connect with their heritage by living on land where 80% of the Bible took place,” said Shilo Adler an umbrella group of municipal councils in the West Bank Contact Ari Feldman at [email protected] or on Twitter @aefeldman I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward American Jews need independent news they can trust At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S rising antisemitism and polarized discourse This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up Copyright © 2025 The Forward Association Site developed by     Copyright © Yedioth Internet own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment City St George's, University of London provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation UK View all partners Despite the promise of the Oslo accords in the early 1990s the negotiations that followed never cemented an Israel-Palestine peace deal In the third and final part of Inside the Oslo Accords, a special series from The Conversation Weekly podcast we assess the legacy of the Oslo peace process And we ask two insiders to the negotiations: Palestinian political and civil society leader and Israeli former deputy foreign minister and minister of justice what future they see for the two-state solution The series is hosted by James Rodgers Reader in International Journalism and Amnon Aran The goal of the Oslo peace process was an eventual separate Palestinian state one of the key Israeli negotiators during the Oslo process tells us that this has become “much more difficult to achieve” because of the large increase in the number of Israeli settlers living on the West Bank on land Palestinians say should be part of a future Palestinian state “The issue of evacuating all the settlements on the eastern side of the border is becoming the biggest hurdle on the way for peace,” says Beilin if somebody says I’m still for the two-state solution You really believe that an Israeli prime minister will take it upon himself or herself to evacuate so many people?’ Beilin argues for a loose confederation that would allow “all those settlers who would like to remain in the Palestinian state” to do so and become both permanent residents of Palestine and citizens of Israel he suggests that the same number of Palestinian citizens would be allowed to live in Israel under the same legal status Palestinian former negotiator Hanan Ashrawi is also sceptical about the future of a two-state solution it would take a very large grain of salt to believe that the two-state solution is viable,” she says because of the amount of land now occupied by Jewish settlements and the lack of international action to prevent it Ashrawi believes a new dynamic is emerging among both Israelis and Palestinians and that “we are at the beginning of a new transition” the whole rationale and logic and discourse of negotiated settlement and all you need to do is be nice and play the American European game and you’ll be OK – this has gone nobody believes in that anymore,” she says “The nature of our system of governance is shifting and the young people are talking only about our rights Pointing to the recent pro-democracy protests in Israel and the political power the settler movement now has in Israeli politics Ashrawi argues that “the chickens are coming home to roost” It’s the whole settler system and the violence and dehumanisation and the total disregard for human rights that are taking over and they are being practised within Israel And this is what is awakening Israeli public opinion Listen and subscribe to The Conversation Weekly for the full episode and the rest of the Inside the Oslo Accords series. A transcript of this episode is now available This episode was produced by Mend Mariwany with assistance from Katie Flood Gemma Ware is the executive producer of The Conversation Weekly You can find us on X, formerly known as Twitter, @TC_Audio, on Instagram at theconversationdotcom or via email Newsclips in this episode from AlJazeera English, DW News and BBC News Listen to The Conversation Weekly via any of the apps listed above, download it directly via our RSS feed or find out other ways to listen. Our weekly email is chockful of interesting and relevant insights into Jewish history, food, philosophy, current events, holidays and more... Simcha Greiniman, a veteran volunteer for Zaka, witnessed the horror of the Hamas massacre upfront. In the days following the Hamas brutal terrorist attack on October 7th, Simcha Greiniman, senior volunteer for Zaka International, was charged with collecting the victims’ bodies and body parts in the burned houses and cars in the south of Israel. Having witnessed the horrific sights, he now travels around the world, presenting the hard evidence of Hamas crimes. For the past 32 years, Simcha Greiniman has been volunteering for Zaka International, a rescue and recovery organization dedicated to identification of the deceased under difficult circumstances and bringing them to burial. Father of five and grandfather of three, Simcha works as a carpenter for his day job, but he is always on call and ready to respond to any emergency. On October 7th, Simcha was celebrating Simchat Torah together with his family in his synagogue in central Israel. At 2:20 PM his phone rang. Because Simcha is a medic, he carries his phone with him 24/7, even on Shabbat and Jewish holidays, and if it rings, he answers. “That’s when it started,” says Simcha. Until then, his town of Modiin Ilit did not have any sirens and no one suspected that anything was amiss. “I pick up the phone and it’s a major from the army. I served in the IDF search and rescue special forces for 27 years, so I was always connecting the army and Zaka on the scenes. The army asked me to call up about 30 people. I got them ready to go on a bus.” All 30 are Orthodox residents of Modiin Ilit who have served in various IDF special forces. He went home to inform his wife of the situation. “At 2:45 p.m., a full bus left from Modiin Ilit. I am told that I’m next in line to be called up.” A few hours later, Zaka asked him to come to the scene and bring his large truck, which is generally used to transport equipment, not bodies. Not a good sign. “We drive as fast as we could, driving in between the bodies and the burnt cars. As we get to the entrance of Sderot, we hear massive shooting at the police station two blocks away. Bombing, shooting – it’s crazy what’s going on, and all this under constant missile attacks! Every few minutes you have to jump out and take cover. “So we make another pile of bodies, and another pile and head back on Highway 34, with four Jeeps with soldiers guarding the truck so we don’t get hit by terrorists. Along the way, we stop to collect more bodies on the road while the police take pictures and collect information. “At the first car, the two front doors are open and there are no bodies, but there are trails of blood. One goes into the field, another goes to the other side of the highway. We check around and collect those two bodies and we look at the back seats. There are two baby car seats ridden with hundreds of bullets. “The second car is totally burnt. We see a skeleton, totally burnt. We try to pick up those bones to collect them, and they disintegrate in a second. There’s nothing left, only ashes. That means that the heat in the car reached over 600 degrees Celsius. We have to bring special vacuum cleaners to vacuum every corner of the car and make bags with marks: this came from the front of the car, from the back, right side, left side, clearly marking all the evidence.” That day Simcha and his team collected 72 bodies. “My truck, from floor to ceiling, was packed with bodies – police officers, soldiers, civilians, and terrorists,” he says. In the aftermath of the attack, Israelis also collected 1,500 bodies of terrorists. They keep them in the hope of exchange for bodies of Israelis held by Hamas. Simcha continues, “The next morning, we continue collecting on Highway 232. We are attacked by two terrorists, who shoot towards us. A soldier that is with us gets killed on the spot before both terrorists are killed by other soldiers.” For the next 18 days, the team continued collecting bodies and body parts in the kibbutzim in the south. They were asked to deal with 1,750 cars that contained human remains. “I worked on these cars one by one,” Simcha says, “making sure every drop of blood came to burial.” They also went through all the houses in the areas that were attacked. “I know what happened in every house,” he says, “There are no words to explain what we went through, what we dealt with, and what we saw. But I do not know any names. That way I can keep some emotional distance and be able to live with the situation.” Simcha says, “I got a call from Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador at the United Nations, to come to speak in the UN about women’s rights, about what I saw. I testified about it. The government then took me to speak to the press around the world. I just came back from Washington, D.C. where I met a lot of congressmen. Two weeks ago, I spoke in the Parliament in England, France, and Germany. “I do not hold back, like I am doing now, and I give them all the horrific details about what we saw. It took these nations 50 years to deny the Holocaust, but it only took 50 seconds to deny what happened over there. When I bring the hard evidence, no one can face me and say that it never happened. We have all the information, everything is documented.” How does Simcha deal with such heartbreaking work without falling apart? “It’s not easy,” he says. “My life has a mission – I am here for the Jewish people. It is a merit to help families recover the bodies of their loved ones and help them to reach closure. I am doing something that not everyone is able to do. Thank God, I am able to do it.” Simcha has risked his life for the sake of this mission. “Firemen run into fires because it’s their mission in life,” he says. “We run into places where we can fulfill our mission.” Simcha calls for all the Jews around the world to stay united and to continue praying for Zaka volunteers, emergency responders and soldiers, so that they can all continue their holy work. Yehudis Litvak is an author of Jewish-themed historical fiction and a regular contributor to various Jewish publications. She especially enjoys exploring Jewish thought through the medium of fiction. She recently moved to Ramat Beit Shemesh, Israel with her husband and children. As a Christian, and a nurse, when I read and heard of the demonic attack on Oct 7, I immediately gathered a prayer group together to pray. We have been supporting ZAKA ever since. I had the honor of standing in line at El Al with Simcha while waiting to board a flight to Tel Aviv a few weeks ago, as he was returning from speaking engagements in the US. Due to delays in boarding we had a chance to chat for a little while. I am in awe of what he and Zaka do. They are the very best of us. May we all donate to ZAKA'S as I have been proud to do. Their immense courage and strength to fulfill their missions to collect the remains, while taking evidence of the systematic satanic murders to present around the world the truth of Oct. 7th, is evidence that they are all deeply connected to a Divine world that blesses them with strength and purpose, to carry on. Imagine....Unbelievable to witness what they have and still do. These men are the true heroes of the world. thank you for this article will share with many people the truth has to come out I'd like to bless Simchah and all Zaka volunteers and emergency responders not to have to do such a job ever again! May G d bless you with strength and healing and blessed forgetting, and all poor responders as well! Thank you for signing up for the aish.com free newsletter. Street view of Moshav Matityahu The moshav is located between Modi’in Illit and Hashmonaim ideologically as well as geographically It is located on a strategic hill that overlooks Ben-Gurion Airport a Modern Orthodox suburb that is popular among American olim One reaches Matityahu from the road to Kiryat Sefer the first neighborhood in the Chareidi city of Modi’in Illit Considering that Matityahu’s population of about a hundred families is dwarfed by Modi’in Illit’s population of over 60,000 one can be forgiven for assuming it is a neighborhood of that large and rapidly growing city Yet Matityahu has its own unique history and character It is located between Modi’in Illit and Hashmonaim ideologically as well as geographically when Modi’in Illit recently tried to annex Matityahu into its municipality partially on the grounds that Matityahu’s population would not fit well with the almost entirely Chareidi population of Modi’in Illit a group of American Jewish families formed the nucleus of a Torah community they wished to build in Israel They first moved to the community of Mevo Horon to learn the skills necessary to work the land and operate a moshav and the first twenty families moved to Matityahu in the summer of 1981 The fledgling moshav was affiliated with Po’alei Agudat Yisrael (PAI) a now-defunct political party and social movement for working Chareidim During those first years—before they had telephones or a hookup to the national electrical grid and before it had rained enough to fill up Matityahu’s mikvah—they received assistance from other PAI communities Rabbi Henkin left the moshav after a year and in the fall of 1983 Matityahu installed Rabbi Zev Leff as its new rabbi Rabbi Leff left his pulpit at the Young Israel of Greater Miami to become the rav of a fledgling community with one-tenth the number of families Rabbi Leff is also the founding member of NCSY’s Miami chapter and served as chapter president from 1964 to 1965.) An alumnus of the Telshe Yeshiva in Cleveland Rabbi Leff changed the community’s religious focus bringing it more in line with Chareidi sensibilities and attracting more of a Yeshivish element The community developed a unique Chareidi-Zionist blend during these years One could see black hats along with knitted kippot (occasionally worn under the black hat) Hallel was no longer recited on Yom Ha’atzmaut but the community marked the day with an annual softball game in which Rabbi Leff served as designated pitcher for both teams Some of the young men from Matityahu opted for extended full-time yeshivah study in lieu of military service Another major change occurred in the early 1990s when the moshav privatized after a decade as a collective endeavor and most members found jobs outside the community These changes—Religious Zionist to Chareidi and from collective endeavor to privatization—may seem fairly momentous one of the original members and the current chairman of Matityahu’s Management Committee believes otherwise: “Collective ownership was never a function of ideology Our main focus was always to build a Torah community in Eretz Yisrael With all the changes and the bumps in the road Matityahu has now entered a third phase of its existence The nearby cities of Modi’in and Modi’in Illit with a composite population approaching 200,000 have brought urban amenities and conveniences to Matityahu It has become a destination for Israeli Chareidi families who want proximity to Modi’in Illit and its schools (virtually all residents of Matityahu send their children to schools in Modi’in Illit) but who still want to keep a bit of distance from it the single ballot box with the highest percentage of voters for United Torah Judaism (the Ashkenazic Chareidi party) was the one on Matityahu It is increasingly uncommon for the young men of Matityahu to join the IDF in any form and fewer olim view Matityahu as a destination and some of the new residents are seeking to integrate into Matityahu’s community but others are creating their own new community there but Yom Ha’atzmaut is no longer publicly celebrated There are the old-timers—the English-speaking founders who by now are largely empty-nesters—and the younger population tends to be more Israeli and mainstream Chareidi and has no memory of those first hard years aided by friction-limiting age differences and many of the newcomers are still attracted to the sense of community and to Rabbi Leff’s leadership but Matityahu has successfully reinvented itself before Rabbi Elli Fischer is a writer and translator living in Modi’in 2020Get email notification for articles from Elon Gilad FollowMay 12 2020This article was originally published on May 6 Peace Now put the number of new homes discussed by the Civil Administration at 1,096 Occupied Jerusalem: Israel has given preliminary approval for the construction of more than 800 new homes in Jewish colonies on occupied West Bank land where Palestinians seek statehood The move could complicate US-sponsored Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations which resumed last month after an almost three-year freeze over the colony dispute and whose second round is expected to take place next week spokesman for Israel’s military-run Civil Administration in the West Bank said initial plans to build 800 new settler homes were approved on Wednesday though actual construction would require a green light from the government who did not immediately provide further details on the plans put the number of new homes discussed by the Civil Administration on Wednesday at 1,096 and said they were earmarked for 11 colonies — some of them located deep within the West Bank Israel insists it would annex major West Bank colony blocs which are mainly situated close to the Israeli border under any peace accord with the Palestinians Most world powers regard all the colonies as illegal and Palestinians say the enclaves could deny them a viable and contiguous state Palestinian officials did not immediately comment on the new colony initiative which surfaced as Muslims celebrated the festival of Eid Al Fitr Some 500,000 Israeli colonists live in the West Bank and East Occupied Jerusalem areas captured in the 1967 Middle East war Israel withdrew in 2005 from the Gaza Strip the rightist Israeli government put 91 colonies on a national priority funding list adding six to a roster of dozens of enclaves already eligible for supplemental state cash while US Secretary of State John Kerry was on a peace-brokering visit to the region the Civil Administration granted initial approval for construction of 732 new homes in Modiin Ilit a colony midway between Occupied Jerusalem and Tel Aviv Get the latest news and updates straight to your inbox Israel to 'allow a window' for hostage deal Israel cabinet approves plan including Gaza 'conquest'