Israel to release Palestinians, build new settlements
28 Dec 2013 4:40 AM IST
Israel will announce plans for new settlement construction next week, coinciding with the release of a third batch of Palestinian prisoners as part of peace talks, an official said on Thursday.
Palestinians have warned repeatedly that settlement building destroys the fragile US-brokered peace talks that resumed in July after a three-year hiatus.
‘The Israeli government will announce tenders for new construction in the West Bank and in east Jerusalem which will coincide with the release of a third group of Palestinian prisoners,’ the official said on condition of anonymity.
The comments come days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to push ahead with settlement construction despite calls for restraint by US Secretary of State John Kerry and the European Union.
‘We will not stop, even for a moment, building our country and becoming stronger, and developing... the settlement enterprise,’ Netanyahu told members of his rightwing Likud party last week.
Kerry, who has been fighting for the survival of the peace talks, has urged Netanyahu ‘to exercise maximum restraint in announcing new construction’ Haaretz newspaper reported earlier this month.
Palestinians have warned repeatedly that settlement building destroys the fragile US-brokered peace talks that resumed in July after a three-year hiatus.
‘The Israeli government will announce tenders for new construction in the West Bank and in east Jerusalem which will coincide with the release of a third group of Palestinian prisoners,’ the official said on condition of anonymity.
The comments come days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to push ahead with settlement construction despite calls for restraint by US Secretary of State John Kerry and the European Union.
‘We will not stop, even for a moment, building our country and becoming stronger, and developing... the settlement enterprise,’ Netanyahu told members of his rightwing Likud party last week.
Kerry, who has been fighting for the survival of the peace talks, has urged Netanyahu ‘to exercise maximum restraint in announcing new construction’ Haaretz newspaper reported earlier this month.
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