Defense Minister Ehud Barak has approved the construction of 277 housing units in Ariel in the West Bank. One hundred of the 277 housing units will be allocated to evacuees of the 2005Gaza Strip disengagement and the rest will be sold on the open market. Construction is expected to take three years. The defense minister's approval comes less than a week after Interior Minister Eli Yishai approved the construction of 4,300 housing units in Jerusalem over a period of years to ease the lack of housing. The move sparked sharp condemnation from the United States, European Union and Turkey.
