More than 1,300 new homes are set to be built in West Bank settlements, the Construction and Housing Ministry announced in a statement on Sunday.

“Tenders for 1,355 homes in Judea and Samaria have been published,” a ministry statement said, using the West Bank’s biblical name.

The publication of marketing tenders by the Housing Ministry is a bureaucratic step that projects in larger settlements are required to go through even after receiving “final validation” approval for construction by the Defense Ministry.

“Just as we promised, we are now following through,” said Construction and Housing Minister Ze’ev Elkin on Sunday.

“Strengthening and widening the settlements in Judea and Samaria is a necessary and very important part of the Zionist enterprise.” Elkin said he welcomed moving forward with the construction “after a long period of stagnation in building in Judea and Samaria.”.

On Friday, US State Department spokesman Ned Price said the US was “concerned” about reports of new settlement housing plans.

Elkin said the ministry plans to invest NIS 224 million ($70 million) to build 1,500 new homes in 21 settlements in the area?

In Streetwise Hebrew for the Times of Israel Community, each month we'll learn several colloquial Hebrew phrases around a common theme.