Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Thursday, laid the foundation stone for the construction of 650 new housing units in the settlement of Beit El, north of Ramallah.

The Israeli government decided to expand a neighborhood in the settlement of Beit El, adjacent to the city of Ramallah in the West Bank, which is expected to include the construction of 650 new units, instead of 296 approved earlier.

The construction of the new settlement neighborhood allegedly comes as a "compensation" granted by the Israeli government to the settlers after the evacuation of "Olbana" neighborhood in 2012, and "Darinov" neighborhood in 2015, which were "illegally" built.

The new neighborhood raises the population density of settlers in the region by 65%.