Israel approves 500 new illegal West Bank homes

Illegal squatter settlements

An Israeli committee approved on Wednesday the construction of 500 new illegal homes in the West Bank settlement of Shilo and retroactively legalize more than 200 already built without permits, a spokesman said.

The committee, which falls under the auspices of the defense ministry, approved "construction of 500 units," civil administration spokesman Guy Inbar told AFP.

He also confirmed reports that more than 200 homes which were built without a permit, some in the nearby settler outpost of Shvut Rachel, would be legalised.
Israel has sped up expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory in defiance of international law, which considers such construction illegal.

A Palestinian official said the move was a "very serious development" and warned the Palestinian Authority would not enter negotiations while Israel's "destructive" policies continued.

"We will not go back to negotiations with these continued [Israeli] policies that is destructive and is putting an end to the two-state solution that the international community agreed to," Abdullah Abdullah, Chairman of the Political Committee of the Palestinian Legislative Council, told Al-Akhbar.

Israel's continued settlement and occupation policy is part of a concerted effort to undermine international efforts for peace, Abdullah said.

"This is in line with the Israeli policy to disrupt the international attempt for a peaceful solution to the conflict," he said.

"And that's in defiance of all agreements signed by Israel and Palestine, and in defiance of international law."

Recent preliminary talks between the two sides in Amman, Jordan “did not make any breakthrough in the Israeli policy, or the resumption of the peace talks,” Abdullah added.

World powers have routinely condemned Israel's settlement expansion policy, but have failed to rein in the Jewish state.

Abdullah urged the international community to pressure Israel to halt its settlement activity.

"The world should not stand idly by watching the continued occupation and the continued violence," he said.

The Palestinians ended negotiations in September 2010 after Israel refused to renew a moratorium on settlement construction in the West Bank.

Israel's far-right government has avoided peace talks with the Palestinians, instead accelerating the building of new settlements in the West Bank.

Israel has maintained an occupation of the West Bank and Jerusalem since 1967, and a siege on the Gaza Strip since 2006.

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