- 23 jan 2010
Israelis, Palestinians point fingers after Mitchell failure
Bethlehem - Ma’an/Agencies - Finger pointing over which side sets more preconditions for peace talks continues after US special envoy for the Middle East George Mitchell returns to Washington.
Following a series of meetings in the region, President Mahmoud Abbas refused Mitchell’s request to return to peace talks without the guarantee of a meaningful settlement construction halt, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Abbas for a failure to move forward.
"The Palestinian Authority are the ones that are preventing the re-launch of the peace process with their preconditions that they have never asked before from any previous Israeli government," a statement from Netanyahu’s office said, adding, "The Prime Minister calls on the Palestinian Authority to sit at the negotiating table and discuss ways to promote security, peace, and prosperity for the two people."
Erekat, however, in a statement released on Saturday, blamed Netanyahu and his government for putting more conditions on negotiations. By continuing to build settlements, the statement said, Israel has announced its “intention to continue its occupation irrespective of [the] outcome [of peace talks], [and constitute] a direct challenge to the international community… [settlements and their construction] cast Israel’s readiness for peace further into doubt.”
The PLO leader said “Netanyahu has said no to a settlement freeze, no to sharing Jerusalem, no to the 1967 borders, no to the rights of Palestinian refugees. Now he wants to retain the Jordan Valley. What are these if not Israeli preconditions on negotiations that erode any foundation of hope for the two-state solution?”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=256067 6 jan 2012, 17:12 , Respect -
Maria 25 jan 2010
PPP official: Settlements main danger
Gaza – Ma’an – Israeli settlements and land confiscation are the foremost dangers faced by Palestinians in the West Bank, said member of the Palestine Peoples' Party's politburo Walid Al-Awad on Monday.
Al-Awad added that efforts to turn Jerusalem into an exclusively Jewish city and sever it from the West Bank were serious concerns, he said during an interview with Ma'an.
The US administration is contributing to this danger, he said, adding that negotiations will remain stonewalled until a total settlement freeze is initiated across the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem.
National Palestinian forces and others should take notice of these perils and oppose them to protect Palestinian self-determination, he said.
Al-Awad further called for resistance, citing that it is the right of Palestinians to defend their lands and their rights, and demanded an end to internal division.
Elections, he said, must be held as soon as possible.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=256675 6 jan 2012, 17:13 , Respect -
Maria 26 jan 2010
Aide: Abbas has 2 conditions for talks
Bethlehem – Ma'an – President Mahmoud Abbas laid out two preconditions for the resumption of negotiations with Israel, during his meeting with US special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell on Friday, a senior aide said on Tuesday.
The aide, Nimer Hammad, told Ma'an that Abbas asked that Israel commit to a real settlement freeze even for a limited period of time. His second request was that negotiations be based on the establishment of a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders and a full withdrawal to those armistice lines.
According to Nimer, the following are some excerpts from the meeting:
Mitchell: The Israelis have requested renewed negotiations, saying they froze settlements for ten months.
Abbas: Go to Jerusalem and see for yourself the settlement activity and Judaization of the city – you'll see the situation on the ground looks nothing like a settlement freeze.
Mitchell: The Israelis could take confidence-building steps like releasing prisoners, removing checkpoints, changing areas classified as "C" [according to the Oslo Accords] to "B" classification, and areas "B" to "A."
Abbas: This is a good thing.
Mitchell: But there's a prerequisite for that, resuming negotiations.
Abbas: We welcome these ideas but not as preconditions for talks.
After this dialogue, Mitchell suggested indirect negotiations between other parties, during which he would shuffle between other sides, including the Palestinians, Syrians, and Lebanese.
Nimer said Abbas also asked Mitchell what he thought of Israel's settlement enterprise, and Mitchell replied that it is "illegal and we reject it."
Nimer also reiterated that the PLO was not opposed to his efforts to resume the peace process, but noted that there are other options, among them supporting nonviolent resistance along with Israeli peace activists.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=256812 6 jan 2012, 17:13 , Respect -
Maria 26 jan 2010
Barghouti tells British MP: Settlements compromise Palestinian state
Ramallah – Ma'an – Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative Mustafa Barghouti met with British Shadow Minister of State and conservative Member of Parliament David Lidington on Tuesday.
During their meeting, Barghouti explained the dangers of Israeli practices in the occupied Palestinian territories, and what he described as the ethnic cleansing of Jerusalem and its environs, as well as Israel's separation wall and the blockade of Gaza.
Significantly, he told Lidington that continued settlement expansion not only thwarts the resumption of peace talks, but compromises the establishment of a sovereign and fully independent Palestinian state, which cannot be achieved without the inclusion of occupied East Jerusalem, Barghouti told Lidington.
Barghouti underlined the importance of Britain's role in the EU and its impact on US policy in favor of the Palestinian caused and called on the international community to exert pressure on Israel to provide the foundations of a just peace.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=256906 6 jan 2012, 17:13 , Respect -
Maria 15 febr 2010
Tamimi: Israel working to build Third Temple
Jerusalem – Ma'an – Supreme Judge Sheikh Tayseer Tamimi said Monday that Israeli institutions, settler groups and the government are working to fulfill 18th century Rabbi Vilna Goan's prophecy declaring that the Third Temple would be re-built by 16 March 2010.
He said archeological excavations have caused structural damage to the Al-Marwani Mosque, under the Al-Aqsa Mosque's northern walls, and to Palestinian homes in the Old City of Jerusalem.
The sheikh further alleged that a plan had been implemented in 1993 to intensify efforts to "Judaize" Jerusalem by establishing two major settlements around the city and a military brigade dedicated to closing off the city and separating it from its surrounding neighborhoods.
Tamimi said the plan included the shutting down of Palestinian institutions in Jerusalem, the expulsion of dignitaries and the revoking of Israeli ID cards of Jerusalem residents in Beit Hanina, Shu'fat, El-Essawiya, At-Tour and Silwan.
Additionally, a network of tunnels would be constructed to connect settlers to the Old City, he claimed.
By the end of this process, some 36,000 Palestinians living in the Old City will be displaced, Tamimi said, calling on conveners of the Arab League Summit in Libya next month to create a plan to "save Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=261601 6 jan 2012, 17:13 , Respect -
Maria 16 febr 2010
In Saudi Arabia, Clinton gives nod to settlements
Washington – Ma'an – A day after she acknowledged frustration with the US role in the stalled Mideast peace process, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reaffirmed US calls on Monday for an Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 borders with the exception of some settlements.
“The parties can mutually agree on an outcome which ends the conflict and reconciles the Palestinian goal of an independent and viable state based on the 1967 lines with agreed swaps, and the Israeli goal of a Jewish state with secure and recognized borders that reflect subsequent developments and meet Israeli security requirements,” she said during a news conference in Riyadh alongside Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal.
The reference to “subsequent developments” was a an acknowledgement of Israeli intentions to maintain control of many settlements built on land taken from Palestinians after the 1967 occupation of the West Bank. Nearly half a million Israelis live in the settlements, particularly in a ring around East Jerusalem, the Palestinian capital.
A year of US efforts to revive the long-stalled peace process have failed largely due to Israel’s refusal to halt the ongoing expansion of the settlements.
Clinton’s Saudi allies took a firmer line on settlements. “We also believe that Israeli settlements are illegal and illegitimate,” Foreign Minister Al-Faisal told reporters at a news conference dominated by a discussion of Iran.
Clinton’s stopover in Saudi Arabia included a lavish lunch with King Abdullah and a working meeting with the monarch.
A day earlier Clinton made an unusual acknowledgement of frustrations with the Palestinian-Israeli impasse.
Speaking at the US-Islamic World Forum in Doha, Qatar, Clinton said she knows "people are disappointed that we have not yet achieved a breakthrough.”
“The President, Senator Mitchell, and I are also disappointed. But we must remember that neither the United States nor any country can force a solution. The parties themselves must resolve their differences through negotiations,” she added, according to a transcript.
“The United States stands ready to play an active and sustained role, and to support the parties as they work to resolve all permanent status issues including security for Israelis and Palestinians, borders, refugees, and Jerusalem,” she also said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=261766 6 jan 2012, 17:13 , Respect -
Maria 18 febr 2010
Israeli report: 33 settlements violating freeze
Washington – Ma'an – At least 33 West Bank settlements are expanding in violation of a partial ban on construction ordered by the Israeli government in November, the Israeli group Peace Now reports.
Last week the Israeli Defense Ministry, charged with enforcing the ban, admitted that violations were ongoing in 29 settlements.
Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai made public a list of 29 settlements that breached the freeze order. Vilnai made this disclosure in response to an official inquiry from MK Haim Oron, a member of the liberal Meretz party.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued the freeze order in late November under pressure from the United States. The ban applies only to new construction in settlements outside a band of settlements that surround Jerusalem.
Even under this narrow definition, Peace Now says it was able to document violations in a total of 33 settlements.
Peace Now said its workers documented construction taking place at night and on weekends. The group posted video of new foundations being dug for buildings in the settlement Talmon.
The group also released an audio recording of an Israeli contractor admitting that it plans to go ahead with a government approved plan to build totally new buildings in the settlement of Beitar Illit.
Nearly half a million Israelis live in settlements built on land taken from Palestinians after the 1967 occupation of the West Bank. Most settlers live in what Israel considers greater Jerusalem, an area not included in the partial freeze.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=262185
UN envoy: Quartet to back PA autonomy
Hebron – Ma'an – Robert Serry, the UN special envoy to the Middle East peace process, hinted on Thursday that the international community would pressure Israel to cede parts of the occupied West Bank to Palestinian Authority control.
Serry said the International Quartet, made up of the UN, EU, US and Russia, will express support for PA demands on the Israeli government to transfer Areas B and of the West Bank C into A, under full Palestinian control, on the road to establishing statehood.
Speaking during a visit to the West Bank city of Hebron, which is divided between PA security autonomy and Israeli military control, Serry told Ma'an, "if Israel is serious about the peace process, and the two-state solution, and wants to see an end to the occupation, we should back Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's successful program."
Following separate meetings with Hebron Governor Husein Al-Araj and Mayor Khaled Al-Aseili, the UN envoy added that real progress should come "outside of the political arena. We should see progress on the ground, a full halt to settlement construction, a full halt to Israeli violations in Area A, because Fayyad is doing a great job restoring security in these areas."
Serry said encouraging Fayyad's program would help "roll back the occupation, which is what the international community is looking forward to," vowing that the Quartet would move forward on implementing humanitarian and economic infrastructure projects.
"I know the situation is difficult in Hebron, but I've been impressed by what they've accomplished, what both the governor and the mayor have achieved, despite the difficult circumstances they face," he added. "We are still concerned about Israeli security violations in Hebron, particularly violence and harassment carried out against residents by settlers."
For his part, Governor Al-Araj urged the UN and international community to urgently intervene by supporting Palestinians politically, and by pressuring the Israeli government to implement its commitments, namely reigning in settlements and the separation wall.
He also referred to ongoing disputes between Palestinians and Israel's army and Civil Administration, which have recently prevented several infrastructure projects in the southern West Bank city.
"The Israelis are placing obstacles in front of the Palestinian economy by preventing building in industrial zones in Tarqumia, areas that would help create thousands of jobs, and by obstructing investment and building in Area C, where investment would support the economy and development forward by creating industrial zones and projects to treat sewage water," Al-Araj said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=262547 6 jan 2012, 17:13 , Respect -
Maria 19 febr 2010
Top US official visits Israel, West Bank
Washington – Ma’an – US Deputy Secretary of State Jacob J. Lew arrived on Wednesday for a four-day visit to Israel and the West Bank that will include talks on trade, technology, and humanitarian aid, the State Department said.
While in the West Bank, the State Department said Lew, who served as budget director under former President Bill Clinton, plans to “focus on how U.S. assistance can best support the efforts of President Abbas and Prime Minister Fayyad to build the institutions of a future state, to develop the Palestinian economy and civil society institutions, and other elements integral to US efforts to help achieve a two-state solution and comprehensive peace in the region.”
Also on Thursday President Mahmoud Abbas met with a senior aide to Middle East envoy George Mitchell, Reuters news agency reported.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat confirmed the scheduled meeting with aide David Hale had taken place in Ramallah. Neither the PA nor the US had any comment on the subject of the meeting.
Abbas is seeking clarification of a US offer to mediate in “proximity talks” whereby Mitchell would shuttle in between the two sides.
Abbas refuses to engage in direct negotiations with Israel until it complies with past agreements to freeze expansion of West Bank settlements on Palestinian land. Mitchell has tried in vain for a year to bring the two sides to the negotiating table.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=262544 6 jan 2012, 17:13 , Respect -
Maria 20 febr 2010
Top UN official: Abbas must negotiate
Washington – Ma'an – A senior UN official placed onus on President Mahmoud Abbas to enter US-brokered negotiations with Israel on Thursday.
"We remain deeply concerned at the current stalemate," said B Lynn Pascoe, the UN's undersecretary-general for political affairs, in a briefing to the Security Council on Thursday morning.
"The secretary-general hopes that President Abbas will move forward on the basis of that practical proposal so that serious talks can begin," Pascoe said.
Pascoe also said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon "notes [Israeli] Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu's stated commitment to a two-state solution, although confusion as to the government's intentions arises from statements by various government officials."
Peace negotiations were broken off in December 2008 when Israel launched a three-week military offensive on the Gaza Strip that left more than 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis dead.
Abbas is currently seeking clarification from the US about an offer to mediate in “proximity talks” wherein Middle East Envoy George Mitchell would shuttle between the two sides. The president held a meeting in Ramallah with one of Mitchell’s top aides on Thursday afternoon.
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has held firm to a demand that Israel abide by prior promises to halt settlement expansion before renewing negotiations. The PLO says it has already fulfilled its commitments under the first phase of the US-authored Road Map peace plan – a document also backed by the UN and endorsed during Pascoe’s briefing – and wants Israel to do the same.
In November, Netanyahu declared a partial moratorium on new settlement expansion outside of East Jerusalem, but Abbas says this not enough.
In his briefing to the Security Council, Pascoe urged Israel to extend the 10-month freeze, but also noted that Israeli authorities had identified violations of the freeze order in at least 29 settlements.
He also criticized Israel’s ongoing closure of the Gaza Strip’s borders, saying: "This counterproductive policy is empowering smugglers and militants, and destroying legitimate commerce, and causing unacceptable hardship for the civilian population, more than half of whom are children."
While he noted that an average of 561 truckloads of goods enter Gaza weekly, the amounts and types of goods remains "far short of requirements."
Only 48% of the required cooking gas supplies were allowed in, he noted. Construction materials – needed to rebuild from last year’s war – remain scarce, he said.
He also called on the Palestinian Authority (PA) to continue its crackdown on attacks on Israeli forces.
"It is important that the Palestinian Authority leadership continues to speak out against violence and incitement," Pascoe said, noting that an Israeli soldier had been killed in a knife attack on 10 February.
In addition, he expressed concern about eight reported attacks by Israeli settlers, including one on 9 February in which a Palestinian teenager was shot and injured.
The official also noted the PA’s decision to hold local elections in the West Bank on 17 July and urged Hamas "to respond positively to this important part of the democratic process."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=262671 6 jan 2012, 17:13 , Respect -
Maria 20 febr 2010
PA official: Talks could resume in March
Bethlehem – Ma'an – A US effort to break the deadlock in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations toward a peace deal could come to fruition by mid-March with the start of indirect talks, Palestinian officials said on Saturday.
Arab states are now joining the US and European countries in attempting to bring the two sides back to the negotiating table. Officials say these efforts have intensified since President Mahmoud Abbas announced he will not negotiate until Israel stops expanding settlements in the West Bank.
In the meantime Abbas has been seeking clarification on a US offer to mediate in “proximity talks” wherein special envoy George Mitchell would shuttle between the two sides.
The chairman of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) Political Committee, Abdullah Abdullah, told Ma’an that the Palestinians asked the Follow-up Committee of the Arab League to meet on 2 March in order to relay America’s responses which were communicated by David Hale, one of Mitchell’s aides, when he met with Abbas on Thursday.
Abdullah said Hale conveyed the US’ commitment to move then negotiations swiftly along on a set timetable.
But Abdullah said the US has not made clear what exactly its role will be in getting the sides to commit to an agreement.
Not all Palestinian officials are so optimistic.
Hanan Ashrawi, a former top peace negotiator and a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee, stressed that current talk of negotiations is speculative until Israel clearly commits itself to the peace process.
She said the US is failing at the moment to place pressure on Israel to comply with its obligations.
“Negotiations are means and not an end,” Ashrawi said in an interview, stressing that talks should go forward on a specific timetable, after a settlement freeze is achieved.
“If negotiations started without implementing these conditions, then the negotiations are only a cover for the Israeli crimes,” added Ashrawi.
Blair hopes talks can resume soon
Also on Saturday the international community’s Middle East Envoy Tony Blair said he hopes peace negotiations can resume within weeks.
"I hope we can get it going in the next weeks, but who knows," Blair told Reuters news agencyduring a visit to Nigeria. "The Israelis want to get into negotiation, the Palestinians want to get into negotiation, the question is the terms."
Last week Washington announced that Blair, who represents the international Quartet of the EU, UN, US, and Russia, would be intensifying his cooperation with Mitchell.
Blair said proposed indirect talks could have a role to play "but in the end the key thing is to get to the point where the two sides are talking about the core issues and talking about them in a serious way.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=262905 6 jan 2012, 17:13 , Respect -
Maria 23 febr 2010
Israel plans new Jerusalem-area settlement
Jerusalem – Ma’an – Israeli authorities have approved a plan to build 549 new homes for settlers on land across the Green Line in south Jerusalem, an advocacy group said on Monday.
Ahmad Laban, an official with the Israeli-led group Ir Amim said a regional planning body in the Israeli-controlled Jerusalem Municipality approved the plan, which still needs to take further bureaucratic strides before it is finalized.
The regional committee of organizing and building in the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem had approved to present a new settlement plan to build 549 housing units.
“An announcement will be made on this issue soon,” Laban said of the plans, which will be submitted to the public for possible objections over a period of 60 days, in accordance with Israeli law.
The new settlement housing is planned on Palestinian land in the town of Beit Safafa, west of the Jerusalem-Hebron road. Laban said the planned expansion consists of five six-story buildings built on 153 dunums of land. The development is listed as Plan 5834B.
According to Laban, the plan is intended to further drive a “demographic wedge” between Palestinian communities in East Jerusalem and the greater West Bank. If built, the new settlement would interconnect the existing settlements in south Jerusalem including Har Homa and Gilo.
Though the international community does not recognize Israeli sovereignty there, Israel considers a chunk of the West Bank ringing Jerusalem to be its own territory. Israel occupied the area in 1967. Palestinians living in these areas reject Israeli citizenship.
Under pressure to build confidence with the Palestinian Authority, Israel declared a partial moratorium on the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank in November. The ban does not apply, however, to occupied East Jerusalem, including towns like Beit Safafa.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=263177 6 jan 2012, 17:14 , Respect -
Maria 23 febr 2010
Israeli construction ban forces Yatta children to learn in tents
Hebron – Ma'an– A collection of Bedouin settlements in Area C southeast of Yatta has tried for years to obtain the necessary permissions for the construction of small school building for some 40 students who until now have been schooled in a tent.
The south Hebron hills were settled by several Bedouin communities in 1948 when they were expelled from their traditional grazing lands. They largely maintain a Bedouin lifestyle, but are confined to small areas in the hills.
As the population of the Bedouin communities grew, families became increasingly adamant that their children receive schooling under the Palestinian system.
To help residents, in 2009 the joint service council in Yatta provided them with three tents and school desks to be used as temporary classrooms.
The tents, which resemble many of the homes for Bedouin families, differ only because of the Palestinian Authority sign demarcating the building as the Elementary School of Al-Masafir.
School Principal Khadr Al-Umour said the school has four split-grade elementary classrooms housing forty students, both boys and girls. There are only three teachers for the 40 students, including Al-Umour.
A school van used to pick up students along the dirt road that runs through the area, but was confiscated by Israeli officials, Al-Umour said, for unknown reasons. The school has since rented a new van, but in the interim month, students had to walk up to eight kilometers to reach the tent-school.
Al-Umour said he was concerned that the new van would also be confiscated.
"The tents are inadequate ... they do not protect students from the elements in the summer or the winter. The rain leaks in and the summer heat is unbearable."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=263648 6 jan 2012, 17:14 , Respect -
Maria 25 febr 2010
Chicago – Ma'an/Agencies – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told US lawmakers on Wednesday that she hoped Israelis and Palestinians could resume negotiations toward a peace settlement “soon.”
A year of US efforts to bring the two sides back to the negotiating table have failed so far, but Clinton struck an upbeat tone in testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
After demanding last year that Israel halt the construction of all settlements on Palestinian land in the West Bank, the US softened its position, and is now hoping that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will drop his demand that settlement construction halt before peace talks start.
"We hope that that will commence shortly," Clinton said, as quoted by Reuters. "We think it's absolutely essential that they begin to talk about the final status issues that divide them ... but we are well aware of the difficulties that confront us."
Although direct negotiations are still unlikely, Abbas could agree to participate in US-mediated “proximity talks” in which Middle East envoy George Mitchell would shuttle between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators.
According to reports, Clinton also criticized Israel’s inclusion of holy shrines in the West Bank on a list of “Israeli heritage” sites. Israel’s claim to the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron and Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem sparked protests across the West Bank and Gaza this week.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=264092 6 jan 2012, 17:14 , Respect -
Maria 26 febr 2010
Israel approves 600 more homes in occupied East Jerusalem
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Israel's district planning commission approved the construction of 600 new settlement homes in occupied East Jerusalem, Israeli media reported on Friday.
The homes are tipped for construction near the illegal Pisgat Ze'ev settlement and the Palestinian neighborhood of Shu'fat, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported.
The number was scaled back to 600 from the original 1,100 when it was revealed that much of the land was owned privately by Palestinians, according to the daily.
Meanwhile, two homes in the adjacent Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Hanina were slated for demolition, while eight families in Silwan were handed orders announcing their homes were to be demolished, as Israeli municipality workers entered the area accompanied by military guards on Wednesday.
Settlement construction in East Jerusalem is deemed illegal under international law, as Israel's sovereignty over the eastern part of city, occupied in 1967, is not internationally recognized. Further settlement expansion in the city has sparked international condemnation, as Palestinians throughout the occupied part of the city are served with court ordered home evictions, despite Israeli courts lacking jurisdiction in the area.
The World Court has ruled that all the settlements Israel has built in occupied territory are illegal.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=264389 6 jan 2012, 17:14 , Respect -
Maria 2 mrt 2010
US 'concerned' with settlement expansion
Chicago – Ma'an – The US State Department voiced concern on Monday over a reported Israeli plan to expand a settlement on Palestinian land in the West Bank.
"We've relayed our strong concerns to the government of Israel, that this kind of activity, particularly as we try to relaunch meaningful negotiations is counter-productive and undermines trust between the parties," said State Department spokesman Philip Crowley, as quoted by AFP.
The Israeli daily Haaretz reported on Friday that the government approved 600 new units of housing in Pisgat Ze’ev, a settlement near Ramallah in what Israel regards as East Jerusalem.
"We have seen reports that plans for 600 housing units in Pisgat Ze'ev in east Jerusalem, originally deposited in 2008, have advanced in the approval process, although we understand that the total number of units has been reduced from the original plan," Crowley told reporters in Washington.
After initially demanding that Israel halt all settlement expansion as a condition for new peace talks, the US changed its position last year. The Palestinian leadership in Ramallah say they will not enter into talks until settlements are stopped.
"The Palestinians insist they will only return to the negotiating table if Israel agrees to a complete freeze on settlement construction in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem," said Crowley.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=265244