Israel Approves Construction in Illegal Settlement in Palestinian East Jerusalem

Published yesterday (updated) 02/08/2010 21:12

Bethlehem - Ma'an -

The Israeli occupation government so-called Jerusalem Municipality’s planning committee approved the construction of 40 housing units on Monday in an illegal settlement in occupied East Jerusalem, Israeli media reported.

The approvals are part of a wider plan to construct 220 new houses in the Pisgat Ze’ev illegal settlement (built on confiscated Palestinian lands), Israeli news site Ynet said, adding that 32 houses were approved last month.

The news comes as Palestinian negotiators demand an extension of the partial, temporary settlement freeze, which expires in September, as a precondition for direct talks to resume.

Palestinian officials said that Israel cannot be considered a serious partner for peace while it continues to build illegal settlements on Palestinian lands, which would be a future Palestinian state under any peace agreement.

Peace Now: Israel built hundreds of houses during ‘settlement freeze’ in W.B.

[ 02/08/2010 - 10:32 PM ]

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)--

The Israeli Peace Now movement released Monday a report on illegal Israeli settlement activities in the West Bank, revealing that Netanyahu’s government continued construction despite publically announcing the decision to freeze settlement activity until September.

According to the report, 603 illegal Israeli housing units were built since Israel first announced the freeze. 492 of those houses were admittedly built in violation of the freeze decision. Dozens of unfixed and random structures were also built in violation of the laws of planning and construction.

Settlement activity was most concentrated in Modi'in Illit, where 180 new homes were built, and in Givat Zeev, where 40 housing units now stand, the movement noted.

In a related development, eyewitnesses said Monday that open settlement activity is on the rise in the northern Jordan Valley Maskiot settlement in the West Bank, noting that construction of buildings and infrastructure continues in full swing. The settlement, they explained, was built on the Ain al-Helwa region.

According to witnesses, an undetermined and large number of prefabricated homes were transferred to the site, which for weeks has been under the expansion process.

The Maskiot settlement was reportedly built to accommodate Jewish families evacuated from the Gaza Strip.

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