Israeli settlers have begun building new homes at an extraordinary pace since the government lifted its moratorium on West Bank housing starts – almost 550 in three weeks, more than four times faster than the last two years.
In an extensive report Thursday morning, the Associated Press wrote that many of the homes are going up in areas that under practically any peace scenario would become part of a Palestinian state, a trend that could doom US-brokered peace talks.
According to the AP's count, ground has been broken on 544 new West Bank homes since Sept. 26, when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lifted a 10-month freeze on new settlement building.
The survey, while not comprehensive, marks the most extensive effort yet to quantify the construction. It was based on visits to 16 of the West Bank's more than 120 settlements as well as phone calls to more than four dozen settlements and interviews with construction workers and mayors.
"This figure is alarming and is another indicator that Israel is not serious about the peace process, which is supposed to be about ending the occupation," said Ghassan Khatib, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' self-rule government in the West Bank.
Netanyahu has played down the new construction, saying it "has no real effect on the map of a possible (peace) agreement." (ynetnews)
May we continue to build in ALL parts of Israel.
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