JERUSALEM: Israel is to issue tenders for 336 new homes in two West Bank settlements, a spokesman for the Israeli ministry of construction and housing told AFP on Monday.
"We will very shortly issue tenders for the construction of 336 houses for Jews in Judea and Samaria" Ariel Rosenberg said, using the biblical term for the West Bank.
"In total, 294 homes are planned for Beitar-Illit, and 42 others in Karnei Shomron," said Rosenberg. Beitar Illit is south of Jerusalem, while Karnei Shomron lies 15 kilometres (nine miles) west of the northern West Bank city of Nablus. Rosenberg did not specify when the tenders would be issued.
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak had approved the construction of the 294 Beitar Illit homes in May, but the project was subject to various stages of review and additional approvals before tenders could be issued.
Nabil Abu Rudeina, spokesman for Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, condemned the decision as "unacceptable."
"All the policies of the occupier government that pursue settlement of the Palestinian territories are unacceptable because the settlements in their entirety are illegal and must be dismantled," he told AFP.
"This decision is all the more reason to go to the United Nations and to the Security Council to seek recognition of a Palestinian state and full UN membership," he added in a phone call from Norway, where he is accompanying Abbas.
The new construction is also likely to spur criticism from the international community, which considers settlements in the West Bank -- captured from Jordan by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War -- to be illegal.
Talks between Israel and the Palestinians have been on hold since last September over the issue of settlement construction.
The negotiations broke down shortly after they started when a partial settlement freeze expired, which Israel refused to renew.
Since then, the Palestinians have said they will not talk while Israel builds on land they want for their future state, turning instead to the UN where they hope to obtain recognition and membership for a state on the lines that existed before the Six Day War. In the nine months since the end of the building freeze, work has begun on at least 2,000 homes in 75 different settlements, according to settlement watchdog Peace Now.
Peace Now official Hagit Ofran said that government tenders for new housing in West Bank settlements have not been issued since November 2008, when Ehud Olmert was premier.
But plenty of other building, both public and private, has taken place since then, she said, noting that not all construction in the settlements requires issuing a tender for construction.
"They have been doing many approvals without tenders," she said. "There are other kinds of ways to build. Only massive projects in certain settlements have to be done with tenders."
More than 300,000 Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank and another 200,000 live in settlement neighbourhoods in east Jerusalem, which is also home to some 270,000 Palestinians. (AFP)
"We will very shortly issue tenders for the construction of 336 houses for Jews in Judea and Samaria" Ariel Rosenberg said, using the biblical term for the West Bank.
"In total, 294 homes are planned for Beitar-Illit, and 42 others in Karnei Shomron," said Rosenberg. Beitar Illit is south of Jerusalem, while Karnei Shomron lies 15 kilometres (nine miles) west of the northern West Bank city of Nablus. Rosenberg did not specify when the tenders would be issued.
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak had approved the construction of the 294 Beitar Illit homes in May, but the project was subject to various stages of review and additional approvals before tenders could be issued.
Nabil Abu Rudeina, spokesman for Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, condemned the decision as "unacceptable."
"All the policies of the occupier government that pursue settlement of the Palestinian territories are unacceptable because the settlements in their entirety are illegal and must be dismantled," he told AFP.
"This decision is all the more reason to go to the United Nations and to the Security Council to seek recognition of a Palestinian state and full UN membership," he added in a phone call from Norway, where he is accompanying Abbas.
The new construction is also likely to spur criticism from the international community, which considers settlements in the West Bank -- captured from Jordan by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War -- to be illegal.
Talks between Israel and the Palestinians have been on hold since last September over the issue of settlement construction.
The negotiations broke down shortly after they started when a partial settlement freeze expired, which Israel refused to renew.
Since then, the Palestinians have said they will not talk while Israel builds on land they want for their future state, turning instead to the UN where they hope to obtain recognition and membership for a state on the lines that existed before the Six Day War. In the nine months since the end of the building freeze, work has begun on at least 2,000 homes in 75 different settlements, according to settlement watchdog Peace Now.
Peace Now official Hagit Ofran said that government tenders for new housing in West Bank settlements have not been issued since November 2008, when Ehud Olmert was premier.
But plenty of other building, both public and private, has taken place since then, she said, noting that not all construction in the settlements requires issuing a tender for construction.
"They have been doing many approvals without tenders," she said. "There are other kinds of ways to build. Only massive projects in certain settlements have to be done with tenders."
More than 300,000 Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank and another 200,000 live in settlement neighbourhoods in east Jerusalem, which is also home to some 270,000 Palestinians. (AFP)
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