- JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel
published tenders on Thursday for building 323 new homes in two Jewish
settlements in the West Bank, defying a U.S.-backed peace plan for the
second time this month.
-
- Earlier this month Israel unveiled plans to build more
than 600 new homes in Jewish settlements in the West Bank, drawing international
and Palestinian condemnation.
-
- A Housing Ministry official said tenders had been announced
for building 143 new apartments in the Karnei Shomron settlement, near
Nablus in the northern West Bank, and 180 in Givat Zeev, close to Jerusalem.
-
- The U.S.-backed peace "road map" adopted by
Israel and the Palestinians freezes Jewish settlement "activity."
Palestinians and world leaders say this means a halt to all building at
settlements, but Israel challenges this.
-
- "All legal tenders within existing communities are
not included in the 'road map' according to our interpretation and our
understanding," a senior Israeli official said.
-
- Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat condemned the
tenders as well as Israel's decision on Wednesday to press on with construction
of a barrier in the West Bank despite a United Nations resolution demanding
it be torn down.
-
- Urging the United States to intervene to stop construction
of the barrier and the new homes, he added: "Settlements and walls
are the number one obstacle to peace."
-
- The independent Israeli settlement monitoring group Peace
Now said the government had now published 1,627 tenders for new homes in
the settlements since the beginning of the year.
-
- "Even as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon continues to
pay lip service to the adoption of the road map, on the ground the government
continues to build in the territories and disregards all their commitments
on this issue," Peace Now said.
-
- About 230,000 settlers live in nearly 150 settlements
in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, territories Israeli occupied in a 1967
war. The international community regards settlements on occupied land as
illegal under international law. Israel disputes this.
-
- ARMY HAS PLANS FOR ARAFAT'S REMOVAL
-
- Earlier on Thursday, the Jerusalem Post newspaper quoted
a senior military source as saying the army had presented plans for "removing"
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat if the government gives the order to
do so.
-
- Israel's security cabinet decided in principle last month
to "remove" Arafat but did not say when or how. "We have
presented plans showing the risks and the chances of the operation itself,
including the options to remove him alive or not," the military source
said. "The army is ready."
-
- Arafat has been confined to his West headquarters for
much of the past two years, accused by Israel and Washington of fomenting
violence in the Palestinian uprising for statehood that began in September
2000. He denies this.
-
- Israeli security sources said commandos had rehearsed
snatching Arafat and expelling him to a third country, possibly in North
Africa. Arafat, 74, has vowed to fight to the death.
-
- Erekat said any move against Arafat would mean the destruction
of the peace process and the Palestinian Authority.
-
- Palestinian militants in the West Bank refugee camp of
Tulkarm killed two Palestinians on Wednesday who confessed to collaborating
with Israeli forces, witnesses said.
-
- In the divided West Bank city of Hebron, Israeli forces
razed the home of a gunmen who wounded two settlers before being shot dead
on Wednesday. Israel says such demolitions deters militancy. Palestinians
call it collective punishment.
-
-
- Copyright © 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited
without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable
for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance
thereon.
|
