RAMALLAH/GAZA CITY: An Israeli planning committee has approved construction of the first new Jewish settlement in the West Bank in a decade. The decision, made public Thursday, sparked Palestinian outrage and international condemnation.
Israel is constructing 20 housing units in Maskiot, a senior Israeli Defense Ministry official told AFP on Thursday, despite the international community urging it to freeze settlement activity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said yesterday he is dismayed by plans for new Israeli settlement in the Jordan Valley. “These are clearly outside Israel’s road map and Annapolis commitments. At this important moment in the peace process all sides need to take steps to build confidence and ensure practical progress,” Miliband said in a statement. Palestinians say Israel’s ongoing construction in the West Bank undermines chances of peace.
The European Union expressed deep concern about Israel’s plans, underlining that the move would be against international law. “The presidency is deeply concerned by this announcement,” said a statement from France, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency until the end of the year.
“This announcement, if it is confirmed at government level, will contribute once again to weakening the credibility of the diplomatic process under way” aimed at resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it said. “The implanting of settlements wherever they may be in the Palestinian territories, including in East Jerusalem, is illegal under international law,” the statement said.
US Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama also criticized Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank. In an interview, published yesterday, with the Jerusalem Post newspaper, Obama is quoted as saying “aggressive settlement construction would seem to violate the spirit at least, if not the letter” of previous agreements.
Meanwhile, Hamas security officials said that a powerful explosion ripped through a car on a busy Gaza City beach last night, killing three and injuring 20. It was the third mysterious blast of the day in Gaza after a relatively calm period that has followed a cease-fire between Israel and the territory’s Hamas rulers. No one in Gaza blamed Israel for yesterday’s violence and it is likely internal Palestinian battles.
Medical officials said the late night blast killed Amar Musubah, a Hamas military field commander, Hamas fighter Eyad Al-Hia, a child and a fourth unknown individual. All the wounded were civilians. Earlier in the day, unknown assailants set off two bombs in Gaza City, killing one man.
