West Bank

A statement after a meeting of the country's security cabinet said the construction would take place in the Emek Shilo area near Nablus.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been simultaneously negotiating with the US government on reducing settlement activity.

Palestinian officials have condemned the move.

The discovery upends a decades-old theory in the archaeological community that Dead Sea Scrolls were only found in certain caves at the Qumran cliffs, which are managed by Israel in the West Bank.

Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said they had agreed to the move "in response to housing needs".

Palestinian officials said the plans undermined peace hopes by building on land they want for a future state.

It is the second such announcement by the Israeli authorities since US President Donald Trump took office.

Mr Trump has indicated that he will be more sympathetic to settlement construction than his predecessor, Barack Obama, and has appointed a staunch settlement supporter as his ambassador to Israel.

The violence killed one Israeli and left several others injured this week.

Tzachi Hanegbi, chairman of Parliament's foreign affairs and defense committee which made the decision in a "special discussion" on Friday, said the additional forces "will help in returning order quickly" to Jerusalem.

There were minor protests on Friday in Jerusalem and in Hebron in the West Bank but on a much smaller scale than in recent days.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Ban strongly condemns Friday's "murder" of 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh and calls for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.

"The absence of a political process and Israel's illegal settlement policy, as well as the harsh and unnecessary practice of demolishing Palestinian houses, have given rise to violent extremism on both sides," Ban's spokesman said.