New Jerusalem settlement planned


The Israeli authorities are planning to build three new Jewish neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem, an area regarded as occupied land under international law.

The plan, which has yet to receive final approval, would involve building about 20,000 homes.

The Palestinian chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, said the plan destroyed efforts to re-start the peace process.

He said Israel had to choose between settlements or peace, but could not have both.

Read more: New Jerusalem settlement planned

The Key to Peace: Dismantling the Matrix of Control

{mosimage}In the complex situation in which Palestinians and Israelis currently find themselves, two things seems equally evident: First, a viable and truly sovereign Palestinian state alongside Israel is an absolute prerequisite for a just and lasting peace; and second, Israel needs a Palestinian state. Without a Palestine state Israel faces what it considers as two unacceptable options . . .

One indisputable fact that has accompanied the entire "peace process" is that Israel will simply not relinquish control voluntarily over the West Bank and East Jerusalem. It will not relinquish the core of its settlement system, or control of the West Bank aquifers, or sway over the area's economy or it "security arrangements" extending over the entire Palestinian area. . . .

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Read more: The Key to Peace: Dismantling the Matrix of Control

Access to more than 50 percent of West Bank restricted for Palestinians: World Bank

RAMALLAH, West Bank: A new World Bank report says the troubled Palestinian economy cannot recover unless Israel dismantles its web of physical and administrative obstacles to Palestinian movement in the West Bank. Here are some figures from the report.

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Since Israel signed an agreement on improving movement and access for Palestinians in November 2005, restrictions have instead become tighter. Since the agreement, the number of physical obstacles in the West Bank increased by 44 percent, to 547.

Read more: Access to more than 50 percent of West Bank restricted for Palestinians: World Bank

Military Police to probe soldiers' assault on leftist Israeli activists

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The Military Police criminal investigations division is to launch an investigation into an incident in the West Bank on Wednesday in which armed Israel Defense Forces reservist soldiers used violence against left-wing Israelis protesters.

The protesters had dismantled a temporary roadblock in the Hebron Hills, close to the town of Dahariyah, provoking the troops' response.

Read more: Military Police to probe soldiers' assault on leftist Israeli activists

Negev desert nomads on the move again to make way for Israel's barrier

Security fence and spread of Jewish settlement risks way of life for thousands

The bulldozers came for Hamid Salim Hassan's house just after dawn. Before the demolition began, the Bedouin family scrambled to gather what they could: a fridge, a pile of carpets, some plastic chairs, a canister of cooking gas and a metal bed frame.

Now, with their house a wreck of smashed concrete and broken plastic pipes, Mr Hassan and his family are living in a canvas tent on a neighbour's land. Their possessions are piled outside, along with boxes of supplies, including washing-up liquid, toothpaste, corned beef, wheat flour and tomato paste, provided by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Read more: Negev desert nomads on the move again to make way for Israel's barrier

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