Turkey slams Israel’s plans for new settlements in West Bank
http://ahval.co/en-129867
Oct 23 2021
Turkey’s foreign ministry sharply criticized Israeli plans to begin construction of new settlements in the Palestinian controlled West Bank in a press release shared on Saturday.
In their statement, the ministry condemned plans to create 3,100 new housing units across the West Bank.
"Unilateral and unlawful policies, including the expansion of illegal settlements, that destroy the vision of a two-state solution, which is the only option for a just, lasting and comprehensive settlement of the Palestinian conflict, must be ended," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
"We call on the international community to take action to ensure the protection of the Palestinian territories and the rights of the Palestinian people, in order to achieve lasting peace and stability in the region in the long term."
Turkey has frequently criticised the Israeli government for its settlement activities on Palestinian territory. Ankara has been a vocal critic as well of overall Israeli policy towards the Palestinians, with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan referring to Israel as a “terrorist state” in the past over its actions in the Palestnian lands.
Turkey and Israel were once strong allies, but relations deteriorated after the 2010 Mavi Mamara incident when Israeli commandos killed 10 Turkish citizens trying to enter Gaza by sea. The two were initially thought to be considering how they could reconcile ties, but this was disrupted by Erdoğan’s criticisms of Israel for its May military campaign in Gaza.
However in early July, Israel’s President Isaac Herzog received a phone call from Erdoğan, congratulating him on his election victory. The two reportedly discussed the “high potential for cooperation in the field of energy, tourism and technology” between the two countries.
US concerned about Israeli plans for 3,000 settler homes
The announcement about settler housing plans comes amid media reports that Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is under extra US pressure to freeze such plans.
By TOVAH LAZAROFF, OMRI NAHMIAS
OCTOBER 23, 2021
A Jewish settler walks past Israeli settlement construction sites around Givat Zeev and Ramat Givat Zeev in the West Bank, near Jerusalem June 30, 2020.
(photo credit: AMMAR AWAD/REUTERS)
The US is “concerned” by the IDF’s intention to advance plans for 3,000 settler West Bank homes, including for the legalization of two outposts.
It is the first such large-scale advancement of settler housing plans by the Higher Planning Council for Judea and Samaria since US President Joe Biden was sworn into office.
The announcement comes amid media reports that Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is under extra US pressure to freeze such plans. Cabinet ministers and officials close to Bennett have denied those reports.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price was queried about the announcement at Friday’s news briefing.
“We are concerned about the announcement of a meeting next week to advance settlement units deep in the West Bank, and believe it is critical for Israel and the Palestinian Authority to refrain from unilateral steps that exacerbate tension and undercut efforts to advance a negotiated two-state solution,” said Price. “This certainly includes settlement activity, as well as retroactive legalization of settlement outposts.”
View of the Jewish settlement of Efrat and the surrounding fields, in Gush Etzion, West Bank, on December 1, 2020.
(credit: GERSHON ELINSON/FLASH90)
The council usually meets four times a year to advance settlement plans, but this year it has met only once, in January, to promote plans for 780 settler homes, a fraction of the amount it advanced in past years.
According to the left-wing NGO Peace Now, the Higher Planning Council pushed forward plans for 12,159 homes in 2020, and advanced plans for 8,457 settler homes in 2019.
The council had initially been set to convene in August to approve plans for 2,223 settler homes, prior to Bennett’s departure for his first meeting with Biden.
That meeting was canceled due to a strike and has only now been rescheduled, with a larger number of planned homes.
The Civil Administration has said that it intends to debate 30 projects that involve plans for 3,144 homes. Out of those, 1,800 homes will receive final approval.
This includes plans for the legalization of both the Mitzpe Danny outpost as a new neighborhood in the Ma’aleh Mishmash settlement, and the Haroeh Haivri as an educational institution, according to Peace Now. It added that its count of the plans came to 2,862, due to the double-counting of some plans.
On October 31, the council is also set to advance six projects totaling 1,303 homes for Palestinians in Area C of the West Bank, which is under IDF military and civilian control.
This includes 270 homes in Al-Ma’assara village in the Bethlehem area, 233 homes in Almasqufa in the Tulkarm area and 200 in Dkeika in the South Hebron Hills.
In addition, plans for the Jenin area will be debated regarding 160 homes in Abba a-Sharqiya, 170 homes in Khirbet Abdallah Younas and 270 in Bir Albasha.
Of all those, only the 170 homes in Abdallah will receive final approval. A plan for 50 Palestinian homes in Khirbet Zakariya in the Gush Etzion region was dropped.
Lahav Harkov contributed to this report.
The council usually meets four times a year to advance settlement plans, but this year it has met only once, in January, to promote plans for 780 settler homes, a fraction of the amount it advanced in past years.
According to the left-wing NGO Peace Now, the Higher Planning Council pushed forward plans for 12,159 homes in 2020, and advanced plans for 8,457 settler homes in 2019.
The council had initially been set to convene in August to approve plans for 2,223 settler homes, prior to Bennett’s departure for his first meeting with Biden.
That meeting was canceled due to a strike and has only now been rescheduled, with a larger number of planned homes.
The Civil Administration has said that it intends to debate 30 projects that involve plans for 3,144 homes. Out of those, 1,800 homes will receive final approval.
This includes plans for the legalization of both the Mitzpe Danny outpost as a new neighborhood in the Ma’aleh Mishmash settlement, and the Haroeh Haivri as an educational institution, according to Peace Now. It added that its count of the plans came to 2,862, due to the double-counting of some plans.
On October 31, the council is also set to advance six projects totaling 1,303 homes for Palestinians in Area C of the West Bank, which is under IDF military and civilian control.
This includes 270 homes in Al-Ma’assara village in the Bethlehem area, 233 homes in Almasqufa in the Tulkarm area and 200 in Dkeika in the South Hebron Hills.
In addition, plans for the Jenin area will be debated regarding 160 homes in Abba a-Sharqiya, 170 homes in Khirbet Abdallah Younas and 270 in Bir Albasha.
Of all those, only the 170 homes in Abdallah will receive final approval. A plan for 50 Palestinian homes in Khirbet Zakariya in the Gush Etzion region was dropped.
Lahav Harkov contributed to this report.
Israel to build over new ILLEGAL 1,300 W.Bank settler homes
Issued on: 24/10/2021 -
'Wake up'
Jordan, a key Israeli security partner with whom Bennett has sought to improve ties since taking office in June, condemned the announcement as "a violation of international law."
Jordanian foreign ministry spokesman Haitham Abu Al-Ful blasted settlement construction and general "confiscation" of Palestinian land as "illegitimate."
Anti-occupation group Peace Now said Sunday's announcement proved that Bennett's ideologically diverse coalition, which ousted ex-premier Benjamin Netanyahu's pro-settlement government in June, was not "a government of change."
"This government clearly continues Netanyahu's policy of de facto annexation," Peace Now said, calling on Bennett's left-wing governing partners, the Labor and Meretz parties, to "wake up and demand the wild building in settlements cease immediately."
Bennett, the former head of a settler lobby group, opposes Palestinian statehood.
He has ruled out formal peace talks with the Palestinian Authority during his tenure, saying he prefers to focus on economic improvements.
The tenders come after Israel last week gave approval for 4,000 Palestinians to register as residents of the West Bank, the first such move in the Israeli-occupied territory in 12 years.
The new Jewish homes are to be built in seven settlements, according to the statement from the Housing and Construction Ministry.
Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem has continued under every Israeli government since 1967.
However, construction accelerated in the last few years under Netanyahu, with a significant boom during former president Donald Trump's US administration, accused of egregious pro-Israel bias by Palestinians.
© 2021 AFP
Issued on: 24/10/2021 -
A Palestinian man waves his flag next to the Israeli outpost of Evitar in the occupied West Bank on October 10
JAAFAR ASHTIYEH AFP
Jerusalem (AFP)
The announcement from the housing and construction ministry in right-wing Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's government said tenders had been published for 1,355 homes in the West Bank, which has been occupied by Israel since the 1967 Six-Day War.
Those new homes add to the more than 2,000 residences which defence sources have said in August would be authorised for West Bank settlers.
Final approval is expected from the defence ministry this week for those homes.
Palestinian prime minister Mohammed Shtayyeh, speaking at a weekly cabinet meeting, called on world nations, and especially the United States, to "confront" Israel over the "aggression" that settlement construction poses for the Palestinian people.
The Palestinian Authority will be keenly watching for a response from US President Joe Biden's administration, which has said it opposes unilateral Israeli settlement construction as an obstacle to the two-state solution to the conflict.
About 475,000 Israeli Jews live in settlements in the West Bank, which are considered illegal under international law, on land Palestinians claim as part of their future state.
Jerusalem (AFP)
The announcement from the housing and construction ministry in right-wing Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's government said tenders had been published for 1,355 homes in the West Bank, which has been occupied by Israel since the 1967 Six-Day War.
Those new homes add to the more than 2,000 residences which defence sources have said in August would be authorised for West Bank settlers.
Final approval is expected from the defence ministry this week for those homes.
Palestinian prime minister Mohammed Shtayyeh, speaking at a weekly cabinet meeting, called on world nations, and especially the United States, to "confront" Israel over the "aggression" that settlement construction poses for the Palestinian people.
The Palestinian Authority will be keenly watching for a response from US President Joe Biden's administration, which has said it opposes unilateral Israeli settlement construction as an obstacle to the two-state solution to the conflict.
About 475,000 Israeli Jews live in settlements in the West Bank, which are considered illegal under international law, on land Palestinians claim as part of their future state.
'Wake up'
Jordan, a key Israeli security partner with whom Bennett has sought to improve ties since taking office in June, condemned the announcement as "a violation of international law."
Jordanian foreign ministry spokesman Haitham Abu Al-Ful blasted settlement construction and general "confiscation" of Palestinian land as "illegitimate."
Anti-occupation group Peace Now said Sunday's announcement proved that Bennett's ideologically diverse coalition, which ousted ex-premier Benjamin Netanyahu's pro-settlement government in June, was not "a government of change."
"This government clearly continues Netanyahu's policy of de facto annexation," Peace Now said, calling on Bennett's left-wing governing partners, the Labor and Meretz parties, to "wake up and demand the wild building in settlements cease immediately."
Bennett, the former head of a settler lobby group, opposes Palestinian statehood.
He has ruled out formal peace talks with the Palestinian Authority during his tenure, saying he prefers to focus on economic improvements.
The tenders come after Israel last week gave approval for 4,000 Palestinians to register as residents of the West Bank, the first such move in the Israeli-occupied territory in 12 years.
The new Jewish homes are to be built in seven settlements, according to the statement from the Housing and Construction Ministry.
Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem has continued under every Israeli government since 1967.
However, construction accelerated in the last few years under Netanyahu, with a significant boom during former president Donald Trump's US administration, accused of egregious pro-Israel bias by Palestinians.
© 2021 AFP
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