Staying in the Middle East, Israel has announced plans to build six thousand new Jewish settler homes in the occupied West Bank. It's being criticized by Palestinian leaders, who see it as part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to annex the West Bank. The announcement came as a U.S. delegation, pushing a peace plan between the two sides, visited Israel. CGTN's Stephanie Freid has the story from Tel Aviv.

STEPHANIE FREID TEL AVIV "The message from Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was clear-The Jewish settlers who will make their homes at this growing settlement in Efrat-will never have to leave."

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER "You can see the past, present and future. And I gave you a commitment, no settlement and no settler will be uprooted, it won't happen, this thing is over. What you are doing here is forever."

In the lead up to a September election, Netanyahu's statements combined with an announcement that six thousand new settlement housing units will be built in the Israeli occupied West Bank sent a clear message to right wing voters.

At the same time, Israel's government released an unprecedented announcement: seven hundred Palestinian building permits will be issued alongside settlement expansion plans.

Palestinian leaders were unimpressed.

HANAN ASHRAWI MEMBER, PALESTINIAN EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE "This is one way in which this Israeli government is trying to legitimize its illegal war crime of building settlement units in area C and they are using a very flimsy excuse or pretext that they will enable the Palestinians to build 600 or 700 units on their own land in area C in exchange for the Israelis building 6,000 settler units in land which doesn't belong to Israel."

STEPHANIE FREID TEL AVIV "The announcements come as a U.S. team, including U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, arrived in Israel to push forward a Trump administration peace deal for Israelis and Palestinians. Stephanie Freid, CGTN, Tel Aviv."