RAMALLAH, West Bank, 19 April 2008 — The Israeli Housing and Construction Ministry yesterday published construction bids for 100 homes in two Jewish settlements, one of them deep inside the West Bank, in violation of its pledge to freeze settlement expansion.
Palestinian officials said the new construction in the settlements of Ariel and Elkana is undermining US-backed effort to reach a peace deal by the end of 2008. According to the bids, 52 new residential units will be built in Elkana and 48 in Ariel.
The Housing Ministry said that the 52 housing units in Elkana would replace the old ones built there when the settlement first began, while in Ariel 48 units would be built within an existing neighborhood. Ariel Mayor Ron Nachman said the residential units had been approved for construction eight months ago.
According to Nachman, the plots are in the center of the settlement and some of them are intended for the construction of permanent residences for settlers evacuated from Gush Katif settlement in 2005.
Since a US-hosted Mideast peace conference in November, Israel has announced several new building projects in areas of Jerusalem claimed by the Palestinians for their future state. However, yesterday’s announcement marked the first time the Israeli government approved construction deep in the West Bank.
An Israeli security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the new construction apparently is part of ongoing negotiations between the Israeli government and Jewish settler leaders.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said that “this undermines our efforts to make 2008 the year of peace.” As part of the US-backed “road map” peace plan, Israel is to dismantle dozens of illegal settlement outposts and halt construction in veteran settlements. Under the same plan, the Palestinians are required to rein in and disarm fighters. The Palestinian government in the West Bank says it’s trying hard to meet its road map obligations.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the Yediot Ahronot newspaper in an interview published yesterday that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is aware of Israel’s position that it will continue to build in so-called settlement blocs. Several of those blocs are close to Israel, but Ariel and Elkana are deep inside the West Bank.
Abbas said yesterday Israeli settlement expansion is a key obstacle to progress in peace talks. He told the Arab TV satellite station Al Arabiya that “settlement is an obstacle, a main obstacle.” He said it will become apparent by the summer whether a deal with Israel is possible.
In other developments, Israel sealed the West Bank and Gaza for the duration of the weeklong Jewish Passover holiday which begins at sundown Saturday. Holiday closures are routine, and bar most Palestinians from entering Israel.
In a West Bank raid, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian, Hani Al-Kabi, in the Balata refugee camp next to West Bank city of Nablus.
Al-Kabi had fled a Palestinian jail a month ago, violating the conditions of a deal with Israel that would have granted him amnesty. An Islamic Jihad member was seriously wounded in the same raid, medics said. The Palestinian Authority wants Israeli troops to halt such raids in areas where Palestinian security forces are seeking to establish control, particularly the Nablus area.
In another development, Israeli military official Peter Lerner said Palestinian security forces will be able to reopen 20 police stations in rural areas of the West Bank, for the first time in eight years. About 500 Palestinian police officers will deploy in West Bank villages.
Overall security control in these areas will remain in Israeli hands, but Palestinians now will have presence to maintain public order and enforce the law.
Also yesterday, a Reuters photographer was injured in the leg by a rubber-coated steel pellet fired by Israeli troops trying to break up a weekly protest against the construction of Israel’s wall in the West Bank, witnesses said. Other protesters participating in the march near the village of Bilin suffered from tear gas inhalation, said a protest organizer, Abdullah Abu Rahma.
A prominent Hamas official, Mushir Al-Masri, said yesterday that Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier captured by Gaza fighters two years ago, will not be released until hundreds of Palestinian prisoners are freed.
— With input from agencies
