RAMALLAH: Israel has been accelerating construction in West Bank settlements, including illegal settlement outposts, in recent months despite the US objections to the expansion of Jewish settlements in the area, the daily Haaretz reported yesterday.
The report said that the move will putt Israel on a collision course with the Obama administration which is taking a hard line on settlement expansion. Settlement construction, along with the status of Jerusalem and the Palestinian refugees, is viewed as one of the main obstacles in the stalled Middle East peace process.
Dror Etkes, of the Israeli advocacy group Yesh Din (there is law), said that a new outpost, new roads, and other building projects have raced ahead in and around the settlements, often without legal permits, producing the biggest construction drive since 2003. Yesh Din monitors construction in the West Bank.
The construction, which has sped up even more since Benjamin Netanyahu’s government took office this spring, is to be a main issues in US President Barack Obama’s meeting with Netanyahu at mid-month.
Vice President Joe Biden called on Israel on Tuesday to stop building in the settlements and to dismantle existing illegal outposts. However, left-wing groups monitoring events in the Palestinian territories say the construction has accelerated in recent months, not halted. The report said that between Talmon and Nahliel settlements, west of Ramallah, a stone house and another structure have been built without a permit, next to a vineyard set up by settlers a year and a half ago. The Israeli forces’ civil administration has recently issued an order to stop the project.
Illegal construction has been carried out on Palestinian land at the outposts Mitzpeh Ahiya and Adei-Ad, north of Ramallah. A mobile home has been set in an outpost near Susia south of Hebron. An outpost that was vacated near Hebron has been reinstated.
The report added that new houses have been built in the Eli settlement, Rechelim, Ma’aleh Michmash and Kochav Hashahar (north and east of Ramallah).
