Israel has given final approval to the building of 40 new houses at a settlement in the occupied West Bank to replace temporary structures there, the settlement's council head said.
Israeli-Palestinian peace talks collapsed over a year ago in a dispute over Israeli settlement building.
"Building tenders were issued this week after Defence Minister Ehud Barak had already signed off on the construction plans," Efrat council head Oded Revivi said on Monday.
A defence ministry statement confirmed that an Israel Lands Administration tender had been published for building the 40 homes following Barak's approval of the plans "some months ago".
Last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for the accelerated construction of some 2,000 housing units in settlements that Israel has said it intends to keep as part of any future peace deal with the Palestinians.
The decision to step up building came in response to Palestinian efforts to seek United Nations statehood status after their frustration at a lack of progress in peace talks.
Expressions of disappointment
The announcement drew expressions of disappointment and concern from Washington and the European Union who are part of the Quartet of peace mediators along with Russia and the United Nations.
An Israeli official said the building tenders were issued for housing in eastern parts of Jerusalem and for Ef... >>>
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Absolutely unfair and in
by vildemose on Mon Dec 12, 2011 03:18 PM PSTAbsolutely unfair and in the long run self-destructive.
A state of war only serves
as an excuse for domestic tyranny.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Born December 11, 1918