New West Bank 'city' is approved
2012-12-20 22:02
Jerusalem - Israel has approved plans to build 523 homes
in the West Bank, Jewish settlers said on Thursday, in the first step towards a
new settlement "city" that drew furious condemnation from the
Palestinians.
"After years, we are happy to announce that the
government of Israel has decided to build a city in Gush Etzion," David
Perel, head of the Gush Etzion regional council, told AFP.
He said the defence ministry had approved plans for 523
homes in Gevaot, which is part of the Gush Etzion bloc in the southern West
Bank. Israel's defence ministry did not immediately respond to requests for
comment.
Perel said the council had presented plans for a city of
at least 6 000 homes in the year 2000, but had not received any approval until
now.
"This is a huge achievement," he said.
According to Hagit Ofran from the Israeli settlement
watchdog Peace Now, there are currently around a dozen caravans at the site,
but she said the new city could be home to as many as 25 000 people.
"This is not just another settlement: 6 000 units
could house about 25 000 people. Maybe it's not large as cities go, but in
terms of settlements, it's huge," she told AFP.
She said the approval meant the initial plans could now
be promoted by the Civil Administration's higher planning council, which
operates within the defence ministry.
"This sends the message that Israel is not
considering the two-state solution. It means it will be much harder to divide
the land [in any final peace deal] with another city there," she said.
The new plans emerged during a week in which Israel has
advanced the building of thousands of new settlement homes in east Jerusalem
and the West Bank, sparking Palestinian and international condemnation.
Accountability
On Thursday morning, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's
spokesperson warned that Israel would be held "accountable" for its
settlement construction.
"The settlers and the government of Israel should
know they will be held accountable," Nabil Abu Rudeina told AFP.
The comments appeared to be a veiled reference to the
possibility that the Palestinians, having won upgraded UN status, could seek to
join and then appeal to the International Criminal Court over Israeli actions.
The Palestinian condemnation followed criticism from the
EU's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton after Israel moved forward plans for
thousands of homes in east Jerusalem settler neighbourhoods.
"I strongly oppose this unprecedented expansion of
settlements around Jerusalem," Ashton said in a statement early on
Thursday, warning the plans could "seriously undermine the prospects of a
negotiated resolution of the conflict."
East Jerusalem
On Wednesday alone, Israel moved forward plans for 3 658
new settler homes, most of them in annexed east Jerusalem.
The announcements came just two days after the approval
of another 1 500 homes in east Jerusalem, which prompted Washington to denounce
Israel for its "pattern of provocative action."
The UN and all the Security Council members
except the US on Wednesday condemned the settlement moves, with UN
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warning that Israel was on a "dangerous
path."
