Palestine: Israeli settlement construction jumps 69 pct on occupied West Bank
Construction in Israeli settlements on the occupied West Bank jumped 69 per cent in 2008 in the wake of the re-launching of the Middle East peace process at a US conference, the Peace Now watchdog group said on Tuesday evening.
At least 1,257 new structures were built in settlements over the course of 2008, compared to 800 erected the previous year, a report said. The ground was also prepared for 63 new structures. Building in wildcat outposts — settlements not authorised by the government, saw a 2.5-fold increase, with 261 new structures built in 2008 compared with 98 the previous year, Peace Now said.
The report added that the settler population grew from 270,000 in 2007 to 285,000 in 2008.
“Expansion continues, the settlers do not need to wait for Bibi,” it said, referring to right-wing opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu widely predicted by the polls to become the nation’s next prime minister after February 10 elections. Construction also boomed in annexed east Jerusalem and heated up especially after the international conference in Annapolis in November 2007 that saw Israelis and Palestinians formally re-launch their sputtering peace talks.
The study charged that despite international agreements, the Kadima and Labor parties had allowed settlement growth to increase.
While the government’s policy has been to allow settlement growth in areas of the West Bank that Israel is likely to retain under any final status agreement with the Palestinians, Peace Now has charged that 39 percent of the growth in 2008 was outside those areas.
Links:
« Probleme bei Internet Explorer 8 Release Candidate 1 unter Windows XP SP3
Game previews - Spiele Vorschau: Codename Panzers Cold War, Dawn of War 2, Men of War, »
