Tel Aviv Approves 463 Settlement Homes in Occupied Lands
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Israel approved Wednesday the construction of 463 homes for settlers in the occupied West Bank, the watchdog Peace Now said.
The move drew a sharp rebuke from the United States. Washington said it was “deeply concerned” by the announcement, with a senior US official slamming the “pervasive advancement of settlement activity in a new and potentially unlimited way.”
The approvals mostly involved new housing units, but a retroactive green light was also granted to 179 existing homes in the Ofarim settlement. Around 50 new units received final approval, while others were given preliminary authorization at different stages in the review process.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet “continues to plan and build all over the West Bank, while also giving settlers the message that any construction done without planning will be retroactively legalized,” Peace Now said.
Nickolay Mladenov, the United Nations coordinator for the Middle East peace process, told the UN Security Council Monday that Israeli settlement expansion had surged in the past two months since a key report called for a halt.
The report by the diplomatic Quartet – the European Union, Russia, the UN and the US – said construction of settlements on land earmarked to be part of a future Palestinian state is eroding the possibility of a two-state solution.
In response, Netanyahu’s office called criticism of Israeli settlement building “absurd,” particularly related to occupied East al-Quds. The Palestinians see al-Quds, occupied by Israel in 1967, as the capital of their future state.
The US has long been concerned that Israel’s building on occupied Palestinian land is undermining hopes for a Middle East peace deal.
“We are deeply concerned by Israel’s announcement today to advance plans for over 500 new settlement units in the West Bank,” a senior US official told AFP. “This significant expansion of the settlement enterprise poses a very serious and growing threat to the viability of the two-state solution,” he said on condition of anonymity.
He said Washington was also “particularly troubled by the policy of retroactively approving illegal outposts and unauthorized settlements.”
Israel has advanced plans for more than 1,000 housing units in East al-Quds and 735 units in the West Bank since July 1, the UN envoy said.
It has also undertaken a land survey on the outskirts of Bethlehem for the establishment of a new settlement in a move that would contribute to the “dismemberment of the southern West Bank,” he added. Settlements are considered illegal under international law and as major stumbling blocks to peace since they are built on land Palestinians see as part of their future state.
Peace efforts have been at a complete standstill since a US-led initiative collapsed in April 2014.