Netanyahu Halts ’Israeli’ Plans for New West Bank Settler Units

Local Editor

"Israeli" Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for his settling minister to reconsider long-term plans to construct thousands of new outposts in the West Bank and in the E1 area outside Occupied al-Quds.

Netanyahu said in a statement that the plans would make "no contribution" to settlements.
"This is a meaningless step - legally and in practice - and an action that creates an unnecessary confrontation with the international community at a time when we are making an effort to persuade elements in the international community to reach a better deal with Iran," he said.

Netanyahu's statement said that the settling minister Uri Ariel had accepted the request to reassess plans.

This comes as the "Israeli" anti-settlement group "Peace Now" revealed Tuesday that the Zionist entity has long-term plans to build some 24,000 extra settler units in the West Bank and East of al-Quds. The reports prompted the Palestinian Authority to threaten to walk out of talks.
US officials said they were surprised by the announcement and demanded an explanation. "We were surprised by these announcements, and are currently seeking further explanation from the "Israeli" government," a US State Department spokesperson said.
The planned project was divided into 19,786 settling units in the West Bank and a further 4,000 in East al-Quds. The units in the West Bank listed a price tag of nearly US$13 million, according to Haaretz. "This is a record," "Peace Now" director Yariv Oppenheimer said.

A senior official in Netanyahu's office told The New York Times that the prime minister had halted construction plans in E1, a vast area between East of Occupied al-Quds and a large "Israeli" settlement called Maale Adumim. Other settlement plans will go forward, the paper noted.

Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas warned on Tuesday before the latest announcement that the so-called peace process would be over unless tenders for the nearly 20,000 new settler units were canceled. Saeb Erakat, a Palestinian negotiator, confirmed that Abbas had instructed him to pass on a formal ultimatum to the Quartet - the European Union, Russia, the UN, and the US.

"If "Israel" does not go back on its latest construction plans for the settlements, that will spell a formal declaration of the end of the "peace" process," Erakat quoted Abbas as saying in his declaration.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State John Kerry appealed to "Israel" to restrict settlement building as much as possible so as not to hinder the progress of the discussions.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team