Judah Ari Gross is The Times of Israel's military correspondent. View of the construction of the then new Palestinian city of Rawabi, on February 23, 2014. (Hadas Parush/Flash 90/File) Defense Minister Benny Gantz approved a number of preliminary steps for Palestinian construction projects in the West Bank, his office said Monday, in an apparent effort to offset any potential blowback for his approval of some 800 housing units in Israeli settlements earlier in the day. The permits would legalize hundreds of Palestinian structures in Area C, which makes up some 60 percent of the West Bank and is under fully Israeli security and administrative control. Israel rarely approves Palestinian construction in Area C, with the overwhelming majority of requests being denied.