JERUSALEM, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- An Israeli governmental body approved Wednesday thousands of new housing units for Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank, Israel's state-owned Kan Radio reported.

According to Kan Radio, the Civil Administration, an Israeli body that approves construction in the West Bank, gave final approval to more than 3,000 housing units in settlements in the West Bank, a territory Israel seized in the 1967 Middle East war and has controlled ever since.

The move was taken after the United States on Tuesday voiced strong opposition to Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank.