An Israeli ministerial committee Saturday night approved the construction of several hundred housing units in West Bank settlements, a decision that comes in the wake of a deadly attack in the settlement of Itamar on Friday, in which five family members were stabbed to death.

"The ministerial committee on settlement affairs decided to approve construction in the settlements of Gush Etzion, Ma'ale Adumim, Ariel, and Kiryat Sefer," read a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office. It added that the decision called for " measured construction" of a few hundred homes within settlement blocs.

The decision comes long months wherein Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, fearing reproach by the U.S. administration, refrained from approving new construction permits for West Bank communities.

Netanyahu's office notified the White House of the decision. Israeli daily Ha'aretz quoted a government official as saying that the decision is strategic and aims to build in settlements that are slated to remain under Israel's control in a future peace deal with the Palestinians.

But the decision is mostly perceived as retribution for the brutal killing of the Fogel family.

Two attackers armed with knives entered their home in Itamar, southeast of Nablus, around 11 p.m. local time (2100 GMT). Udi and Ruth Fogel, aged 35 and 36, were stabbed to death in their sleep, along with their month-old daughter.

The attackers continued to the adjoining bedrooms, killing two Fogel children, aged 11 and three. The family's oldest child, 12- year-old Tamar, was out of the house at the time. She arrived at the gruesome scene a short time later, finding that her two young brothers survived the attack unharmed.

Large military and police forces, assisted by unmanned aerial vehicles, launched large-scale search operations in nearby Palestinian villages. At least 20 suspects were arrested, local media reported.

Both the Hamas and the Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the killing, but Israeli security officials doubted that either organization was behind the attack. Two Palestinian websites claimed that the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a group affiliated with Fatah, was responsible.

The large troop deployment also aimed to prevent violent clashes between settlers and the Palestinians.

Outraged settlers took out to Palestinian villages to retaliate for the killing, blocking main travel routes throughout the West Bank and hurling stones at passing cars. Several dozen residents of Yitzhar, a Jewish settlement south of Nablus, attacked homes in the nearby Arab village of Hawara with stones and blew firecrackers.

The security forces arrived at the scene a short time later, arresting several people in a bid to restore calm to the area.

The Prime Minister's bureau did not immediately respond to the killing, opting to carefully phrase the official statement.

"I'm disappointed with the Palestinian (National) Authority's hesitant and slack statements (on the incident)," Netanyahu said in a special TV appearance Saturday evening. "That is not how you condemn or fight terrorism. Such an incident requires harsh, unequivocal condemnation," he said.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas phoned Netanyahu on Saturday night to condemn the incident and express condolences.

The Israeli prime minister reportedly rebuked Abbas, saying that condemnation is not enough and called on the Palestinian leader to personally intervene in ending the official incitement against Israel.

"Violence must be condemned not only because it contradicts the P(N)A's political interests," Netanyahu told Abbas. "I expect of you to stop the incitement against Israel: in schools, text books, and mosques. Educate your children towards peace, as we do. The killing of infants in their sleep is murder for the sake of murder. "

Netanyahu had also slammed the international community for delaying its condemnation of the incident, saying that "some of those countries that were quick to condemn Israel (for settlement construction) at the UN's Security Council are taking their time in condemning the murder of babies."

Barak on Sunday said that the incident is a "painful reminder of the unbearable bloody price that we must pay in the struggle for sovereignty and rebirth of Israel in its land."

"The iron fist of the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) and the Israel Security Agency will quickly land on the murderers. They will be caught and made to pay," The Jerusalem Post quoted Barak as saying.

Settler leaders harshly criticized the Israeli government for its inaction prior to Friday's incident.

"The decision is a small move in the right direction, given that construction in the West Bank stands at a negative index of thousands of housing units," said Danny Dayan, chairman of the settlements organization Yesha Council, referring to the government's decision to approve new construction.