Israel has set aside money in its budget for next year to build 750 homes in two settlements in the West Bank, the spokesman for the Israeli movement Peace Now announced yesterday.
Yariv Oppenheimer said: "We have discovered that the 2008 state budget includes 48 million shekels [US$12.3 million] for the construction of 250 homes in the Maale Adumim settlement and 50 million more to build 500 homes in Har Homa," a settlement in the annexed eastern sector of Jerusalem.
Questioned on Israeli Armed Forces Radio, Veterans Minister Rafi Eytan confirmed the projects.
"We have always said that we can build in Har Homa which is inside the municipal limits of Jerusalem," he said. "There may be problems for Maale Adumim, but we want to continue the natural extension" of big settlements.
Oppenheimer said he was against the spread of settlements, "which threatens the peace talks with the Palestinians."
Earlier this week Israel abandoned plans for a new settlement in the Atarot area of east Jerusalem, a decision which US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called a "good step" in the context of the newly revived peace talks.
A Palestinian official said on Saturday that the Palestinians would renew their demands for a freeze on settlement growth in the West Bank and east Jerusalem at their next meeting with Israeli negotiators.
"The next round of negotiations will take place on Monday and until now we are still waiting for a clear Israeli position regarding the freeze on settlements," said Yasser Abed Rabbo, a member of the negotiating team.
In November, Israel and the Palestinians agreed to relaunch the Middle East peace process after a seven-year hiatus at an international conference in the US city of Annapolis.
There the two sides agreed to proceed on the basis of the roadmap agreement, a 2003 blueprint for peace that requires Israel to freeze all settlement activity and the Palestinians to impose law and order in the territories.
The first round of negotiations in the talks was held on Dec. 12, with the Palestinian focus on Jewish settlements.
Israel does not consider the Har Homa project to be a settlement because it lies within the boundaries of Jerusalem, drawn up by Israel after it occupied and annexed the mostly Arab eastern half of the city in 1967.
But the international community has never recognized the annexation, and the Palestinians have made the demand that east Jerusalem be the capital of their future state.
"We demand a freeze of settlements in all Palestinian lands, without exception, whether in the city of Jerusalem or in any other part of the West Bank," Abed Rabbo said. "What applies in the West Bank applies in Jerusalem, and all settlement activity is illegal and unacceptable."
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
Myanmar’s junta chief met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) for the first time since seizing power, state media reported yesterday, the highest-level meeting with a key ally for the internationally sanctioned military leader. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing led a military coup in 2021, overthrowing Myanmar’s brief experiment with democracy and plunging the nation into civil war. In the four years since, his armed forces have battled dozens of ethnic armed groups and rebel militias — some with close links to China — opposed to its rule. The conflict has seen Min Aung Hlaing draw condemnation from rights groups and pursued by the
RSS