Netanyahu pledges millions for settler-only West Bank roads

In October, Israel advanced plans for nearly 4,000 settler homes in the occupied West Bank as part of a push to boost settlement growth.

Palestinians view bypass roads connecting Israeli settlements as another way to seize land and entrench a system of segregation which favours Jewish settlers over Palestinians.

Netanyahu made the pledge after facing bereaved families of settlers killed in the West Bank at Israel's parliament.

"I come now from a meeting with the finance minister and we decided together to immediately allocate 200 million shekels to paving roads... We're not just talking, we're doing. Our actions are consistent, systematic and determined," Netanyahu said.

He said the government planned to budget another 600 million shekels ($170 million) for further improvements.

Settlers in the occupied West Bank have been demanding improved infrastructure for some time, holding protests outside Netanyahu's residence.

"The Israeli prime minister is accelerating the settlement enterprise on all levels," said Nabil Shaath, an adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

"All of this has only one goal, which is to destroy any possibility to revive the peace process based on the two-state solution.

Netanyahu's right-wing coalition government leans heavily on settlers and their supporters to maintain its thin parliamentary majority.

Over 600,000 Israeli Jews now live in settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, making a contiguous Palestinian state virtually impossible.

Settlement building in the occupied West Bank and annexed East Jerusalem is considered illegal under international law.