JERUSALEM - Israel appropriated on Thursday several tracts of land near a major Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank, but a source briefed on the decision told Reuters that there was no plan for construction there.

An announcement by the Civil Administration, part of Israel's Defence Ministry, said the tracts amounted to 2,640 dunams, or 652 acres. The Israeli source said they would now be designated part of Maale Adumim settlement, east of Jerusalem. REUTERS