| Al Jazeera, Feb 16, 2009 |
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Israel has taken control of a large area near a prominent settlement in the Palestinian West Bank, paving the way for a possible construction of 2,500 settlement homes, officials have said. Oded Revivi, the mayor of Efrat, said on Monday that the Israeli military has designated 425 acres near the settlement of about 1,600 families south of Jerusalem, as so-called Revivi said Efrat plans to build 2,500 homes on that land, but government approval would still be needed before construction begins, a process that could take years. Eventually, Efrat is to grow to a city of 30,000 people, he said. The settlement is situated in one of three settlement blocs Israel expects to hold on to in any final peace deal with the Palestinians. Revivi said nine appeals, eight of which were rejected and one was upheld, had been filed by Palestinian landowners. ‘Sticking point’ Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh, reporting from Ramallah, West Bank, said the “confiscation [of the land], which by international law is deemed illegal, has been greeted with condemnation among Palestinian circles”. “We’ve seen statements from these leaderships describing this measure as condemnable, calling on the international community to take a firm stance,” she said. “… This will undoubtedly be a major sticking point when the US peace envoy George Mitchell visits the region towards the end of the month. “This is what [the] Palestinians will be concentrating on. Already we’ve heard from the Palestinian president’s office that there will be no negotiations until all settlement activities in the occupied West Bank including east Jerusalem stops.” Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, has warned that continued settlement expansion would cripple peace talks. His aides said recently that peace talks can only resume after a settlement freeze. Expansion could also create friction with the US, as Mitchell, the US Middle East envoy, has long called on Israel to halt construction in settlements. Nearly 290,000 Israelis currently live in West Bank settlements. |
Posts Tagged ‘more settlements’
Israel seizes West Bank land to expand settlements
February 17, 2009
MIDEAST: Israel Pushes Ahead with Settlement Expansion
August 28, 2008By Mel Frykberg
JERUSALEM, Aug 27 (IPS) – Israel has published tenders for the construction of 1,761 illegal housing units for Israeli settlers in occupied east Jerusalem alone, according to the Israeli rights group Peace Now.
The expansion plans come despite promises by the Israeli government at last year’s peace summit at Annapolis, Maryland (in the U.S.) to freeze all settlement growth.
“Once again this government has shown that its words and commitments are meaningless, and they have no intention of keeping to their word,” says Peace Now.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has stressed repeatedly that settlement construction or expansion in the West Bank is contrary to international law and Israel’s commitments under the ‘road map’ peace process.
The road map was a series of peace-building measures proposed by U.S. President George W. Bush in 2002 and subsequently developed by the diplomatic Quartet of the European Union, the United Nations, Russia and the United States.
Ban Ki-moon further urged Israel to freeze all settlement activity and to dismantle outposts erected since March of 2001.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, normally a diehard supporter of Israel, also expressed her concern about the settlement building during her last visit to Israel several months ago.
“It’s important to have an atmosphere of confidence and trust,” Rice said following talks she held with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. “The United States believes that the (settlement) actions and the announcements that are taking place are indeed having a negative effect on the atmosphere for negotiation.”
The new construction should not be allowed to shape future Israeli-Palestinian borders, which remain under negotiation, Rice said. “The United States will not let these activities have any effect on final status negotiations, including final borders.”
The Geneva Conventions specifically forbid the transfer of a civilian population into occupied territory.
But even as Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was meeting with Abbas in Jerusalem last week in an endeavour to further the peace process, plans for further settlement construction were already under way.
At the beginning of the month, prior to Peace Now’s statement, the Israel Lands Authority published tenders for the construction of 130 new housing units in Har Homa, East Jerusalem.
Peace and Justice Post 