Israeli war minister Avigdor Lieberman said Sunday that plans to build 3,651 settler homes in the West Bank were approved last week, adding that the number of settlement units slated for construction is at its highest since 1992.

Haaretz newspaper quoted Lieberman as saying at the weekly cabinet meeting that 671 of the 3,651 units approved on June 6 and 7 are intended for immediate construction.

“What we have approved on June 6 and 7 is the maximum that can be approved,” Lieberman said, snapping at settler leaders who have claimed there is a “de facto freeze” of settlement construction.

Further building would “stretch the rope beyond its limit, and thus put the entire settlement enterprise at risk,” Lieberman warned.

The war minister also stated that since January 1, this year Israel has approved the construction of 8,345 settler homes, including 3,066 that are slated for immediate construction.

“The numbers for the first half of 2017 are the highest since 1992,” he claimed.

“I am aware more than anyone else of the construction needs in the settlements, and I am also well aware of the restrictions and the pressure that come from the international political community,” he said.

“There is not and there has not been a better government to take care of the Jewish settlement in Judea and Samara (West Bank) and to develop it,” he added.

Last February, the European Union (EU) strongly denounced Israel’s recent stream of announcements about building thousands of new settler homes in the occupied West Bank.

Federica Mogherini, the EU’s foreign policy chief, decried at the time Israel’s continued settlement expansion, describing it as “illegal under international law.”

The EU “deeply regrets that Israel is proceeding with this, despite the continuous serious international concern and objections, which have been constantly raised at all levels,” she said.