From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature
More Settler Homes Planned
GAZA, 26 February 2005 — Israel plans to build over6 , 000more settler homes in West Bank this year in a move that is likely to affect the Middle East peace process.
A report in the Yediot Ahronot newspaper said yesterday that6 ,391 homes for settlers were slated to be built this year, a sharp increase over2004 . The report drew a call from the Palestinians for US pressure on Israel to drop any such plan in the interests of peace.
Statistics on the website of the Israel Lands Authority (ILA), whose2005 construction plan was cited by Yediot, showed the government agency marketed1 , 783new housing units in the West Bank in 2004 and1 , 225in 2003.
An ILA spokesman was unavailable for comment.
Responding to the report, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz’s office said in a terse statement he had approved building permits for “a limited number of housing units” in settlement blocs.
The statement gave no figures.
Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said the construction would violate a US-backed road map that calls on Israel to cease all “settlement activity” on territory it captured in the 1967 Middle East War.
“We urge personal and direct intervention by President Bush to make sure such a plan will not be implemented,” Erekat said.
The election of Mahmoud Abbas last month as Palestinian president and a cease-fire he and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared at a Feb. 8 summit in Egypt have raised hopes of reviving the road map after four years of bloodshed.
Palestinian leaders have also warmed to an Israeli evacuation of all 21 Jewish settlements from Gaza and four of 120 in the West Bank due to start on July20 . But they note Sharon pledged to keep big West Bank settlement blocs forever.
“As for the major clusters, don’t expect us to stop construction there. In any future agreement, Israel will retain them,” a government official said, citing a need to accommodate the “natural growth” of their populations.
About225 , 000Israelis live in 120 settlements in the West Bank. The international community views settlements as illegal.
Under the ILA plan, a third of the new Israeli homes in existing Jewish enclaves in the West Bank this year would be built just outside Jerusalem in Maaleh Adumim, Israel’s largest settlement and home to 30,000, Yediot Ahronot said.
The newspaper, Israel’s biggest, also said the government intended to approve retroactively about200 settlement outposts erected without its authorization in the West Bank, but Mofaz’s office denied this.
“The defense minister has made it clear on numerous occasions that all the unauthorized outposts will be removed, and that will be the case,” his office said.
In a new development in the Gaza pullout plan, security officials said Mofaz intended to speed up the pace of evacuation this summer in a bid to avoid lengthy confrontations with settlers who refuse to leave.
Mofaz now aims to complete the withdrawal in four weeks instead of seven, the officials said.
— Additional input from agencies
http://arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=59568&d=26&m=2&y=2005
Statistics on the website of the Israel Lands Authority (ILA), whose2005 construction plan was cited by Yediot, showed the government agency marketed1 , 783new housing units in the West Bank in 2004 and1 , 225in 2003.
An ILA spokesman was unavailable for comment.
Responding to the report, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz’s office said in a terse statement he had approved building permits for “a limited number of housing units” in settlement blocs.
The statement gave no figures.
Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said the construction would violate a US-backed road map that calls on Israel to cease all “settlement activity” on territory it captured in the 1967 Middle East War.
“We urge personal and direct intervention by President Bush to make sure such a plan will not be implemented,” Erekat said.
The election of Mahmoud Abbas last month as Palestinian president and a cease-fire he and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared at a Feb. 8 summit in Egypt have raised hopes of reviving the road map after four years of bloodshed.
Palestinian leaders have also warmed to an Israeli evacuation of all 21 Jewish settlements from Gaza and four of 120 in the West Bank due to start on July20 . But they note Sharon pledged to keep big West Bank settlement blocs forever.
“As for the major clusters, don’t expect us to stop construction there. In any future agreement, Israel will retain them,” a government official said, citing a need to accommodate the “natural growth” of their populations.
About225 , 000Israelis live in 120 settlements in the West Bank. The international community views settlements as illegal.
Under the ILA plan, a third of the new Israeli homes in existing Jewish enclaves in the West Bank this year would be built just outside Jerusalem in Maaleh Adumim, Israel’s largest settlement and home to 30,000, Yediot Ahronot said.
The newspaper, Israel’s biggest, also said the government intended to approve retroactively about200 settlement outposts erected without its authorization in the West Bank, but Mofaz’s office denied this.
“The defense minister has made it clear on numerous occasions that all the unauthorized outposts will be removed, and that will be the case,” his office said.
In a new development in the Gaza pullout plan, security officials said Mofaz intended to speed up the pace of evacuation this summer in a bid to avoid lengthy confrontations with settlers who refuse to leave.
Mofaz now aims to complete the withdrawal in four weeks instead of seven, the officials said.
— Additional input from agencies
http://arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=59568&d=26&m=2&y=2005
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!
Get Involved
If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.
Publish
Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.
Topics
More
Search Indybay's Archives
Advanced Search
►
▼
IMC Network