Israel plans West Bank homes

Israel's government issued tenders on Friday to build 450 new housing units in Jewish settlements in the Palestinian West Bank, according to the Israel Lands Administration.

The ILA published the tenders on its website on Friday, which include 102 housing units in Kyriat Arba, a stronghold of right-wing settlers; 78 units in Alfei Menashe, one of the largest settlement cities; 114 units in the settlement of Adam and 156 in Elkana.

"Another tender was for a hotel in the settlement city of Ma'ale Adumim, and another few tenders were for trade and offices in the settlement of Immanuel and in Ma'ale Adumim," Israeli settlements watchdog Peace Now said.

"In addition, a plan for the construction of 93 housing units in southern Gilo was deposited for public review in East Jerusalem," it added.

Hagit Ofran, settlement watch director for Peace Now, said the government had approved the new construction in the past but issued the tenders only now, less than two months before the general elections in March.

Israel seized the West Bank during the 1967 Six-Day War and has controlled the territory since that time. The settlements are illegal under international law. Several rounds of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians reached a deadlock over the Israeli construction in the settlements.

Israeli plans to build new settler homes in the occupied West Bank constitute a "war crime", a senior Palestinian official said on Friday.

"What the Israelis announced is part of a wider war ... against the Palestinian people," Palestine Liberation Organization official Wassel Abu Yusef said.

(China Daily 01/31/2015 page12)