Israeli Officials Say No Extension to Freeze on Theft of Palestinian Lands

Israeli Officials Say No Extension to Settlement Freeze

Published yesterday (updated) 21/08/2010 17:42

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) --

Continuing a 10-month moratorium on illegal Israeli theft of Palestinian lands (referred to by Israelis and their Zionist supporters as "settlement construction" in the West Bank past its September deadline "is not an option," Israel Radio cited unnamed Israeli officials as reiterating on Saturday.

The freeze in building on Israeli-only settlements in the West Bank was due to end on 26 September, weeks after the first meeting of Israeli and Palestinian leaders takes place in Washington to relaunching direct talks.

In Ramallah, responding to Friday's US invitation to return to direct talks, the PLO said ongoing settlement activity could jeopardize the initiative, which was given a one-year suggested time frame to solve final status issues, such as Palestinian sovereignty over East Jerusalem, where Israel's settlement activity has been focused.

In July, the Israeli occupation government so-called prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said extending the freeze beyond its deadline would be politically impossible and would threaten to bring down Israel's coalition government.

In March, indirect talks mediated by the US were broken off as Israel announced further expansion to an Israeli settlement in the occupied part of the city, as US Vice President Joe Biden visited the region in a bid to kick-start talks.

Fair Use Notice

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.