Israel plans 530 new settler homes in West Bank, sources say
Palestine-Israel, Politics, 8/27/2004

Israel plans to build more than 530 new settler homes in the West Bank and signalled it would accept growth in Jewish enclaves in the occupied territory, Israeli political sources said on Monday.

They said the construction would be mostly in settlements close to Jerusalem and would be in full swing before the end of the year.

Israel has allowed the construction of more than 300 new homes in the West Bank settlements near Jerusalem, an official said Monday amid Palestinian anger over a change of policy by the United States on settlement building.

A total of 200 of the housing units are to be built in Har-Gilo while a further 101 will be constructed in Haradar, said the spokeswoman for the lands authority, which is headed by Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

The announcement comes after it emerged that Washington had given its tacit approval for expansion of existing Jewish settlements to accommodate "natural growth," in apparent contradiction of the US-backed Roadmap peace plan which calls for a freeze on all settlement activity.

A report in Monday`s Yediot Aharonot daily said that more than 500 new houses would be built in settlements including Haradar and Har-Gilo lying close to Jerusalem and the West Bank town of Bethlehem after adjoining land had been "rezoned." Prime Minister Ariel Sharon last week approved the construction of around 1,000 new homes in four of the largest West Bank settlements in a move which was widely interpreted as a bid to placate opponents of his plan to pull troops and settlers out of the Gaza Strip.

Yediot reported that a total of 2,167 construction permits for West Bank houses had been issued this year, even though only 908 houses were put on the market last year.

It means that the number of homes constructed in the West Bank this year will account for 12 percent of the national total even though only 3.6 percent of the Israeli population live there.

Palestinians reacted furiously on Sunday after it emerged that the United States had given the nod to further construction in existing settlements, saying such a move would wreck the Roadmap.

The peace blueprint has made next to no progress since it was launched last year amid accusations by the Palestinians that the Israelis are blatantly violating their commitment to freeze settlement activity.

Israel in turn accuses the Palestinian Authority of failing to meet its side of the bargain by halting attacks by militant groups.

While backing the roadmap, US President George W. Bush has said that the size of some of the largest settlements means it would be "unrealistic" to expect Israel to withdraw totally from the West Bank in any final settlement.

"I don't believe that the US would say that settlements can be expanded. That is something that would destroy and foil the peace process," Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qurei' told reporters.

"Any agreement or green light for enlarging or expanding the settlements is an act that not only does not serve, but is a total departure from, the peace process." The international community considers all Israeli settlement in the occupied territories to be illegal.

Qurei' meanwhile met Monday with former Palestinian security chief Mohammed Dahlan amid widespread expectation that the Gaza strongman is about to be brought back into government.

Dahlan also held talks with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in what sources described as a fence-mending meeting.

Dahlan, who left the cabinet when then premier Mahmud Abbas resigned last September, has denied claims that he was the instigator of recent large scale protests in the Gaza Strip opposing corruption and demanding reforms.

Although he has been careful not to directly criticise Arafat, he has attacked the "intolerable" corruption within the Palestinian Authority.

Arafat is widely expected to bring Dahlan back into government in a bid to restore law and order in Gaza, and keep a potential rival onside.

Dahlan remains immensely powerful in Gaza and, despite reservations about his ambitions, Arafat might hope that he could help restore security in the territory.

Arafat himself is unable to travel to Gaza, having been confined to Ramallah by Israeli forces for nearly three years.

A source close to Dahlan described the meeting with Arafat as "a chance to make peace" and predicted that the premier would formally invite him to return to the cabinet table.

In events on the ground, a 21-year-old Palestinian man was killed by Israeli gunfire in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

Hazem Abu Zuri was hit in the chest after Israeli troops moved into the area, medics said.

Previous Stories:
  Palestinian deputy intelligence chief survives assassination attempt   (8/26/2004)
  The Guardian: 530 new homes for settlers in the West Bank   (8/23/2004)
  Palestinians under 45 year old prohibited from prayers in al-Aqsa mosque   (8/21/2004)

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