Middle East - West Bank settlements

West Bank settlement building thrust will go ahead

Article published on the 2009-09-07 Latest update 2009-09-07 10:42 TU

A Palestinian woman sits by the controversial Israeli barrier outside the West Bank city of Ramallah.
(Photo: Reuters)

Israel has announced it will go ahead with building hundreds of new homes in the occupied West Bank, despite heavy international criticism. Defence Minister Ehud Barak has defied warnings from Palestinians, the US and Europe and authorised the construction of 455 units, the government said on Monday.

The increase in building is apparently part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s efforts to appease rightwing opposition to the freeze within his Likud political party.

The decision comes days ahead of US Middle East envoy George Mitchell’s visit to the region. Washington has been pressuring Israel to put a freeze on all settlement activity for months.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has warned that if Israel goes ahead with the building there will be no point in holding a crucial three-way talk with Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama at the UN General Assembly this September.

After a seven year lull, peace talks between the Palestinians and Israelis resumed at the end of 2007 but were abandoned when Israel declared war on the Hamas-run Gaza strip.