Israel’s defence ministry has given preliminary approval to plans to expand a Jewish settlement located deep inside the occupied West Bank, in a move that has infuriated Palestinian officials and may spark tensions with the US.

The plan to build 20 housing units in Maskiot in the Jordan Valley has yet to be given final approval by Ehud Barak, Israel’s defence minister, and Ehud Olmert, the prime minister. According to Israeli media, the expansion is part of a deal between settlers and Mr Barak that obliges them to abandon other sites in the occupied Palestinian West Bank.