Ma'an News
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Washington – Ma’an – At least 33 West Bank settlements are expanding in violation of a partial ban on construction ordered by the Israeli government in November, the Israeli group Peace Now reports. Last week the Israeli Defense Ministry, which is charged with enforcing the ban, admitted that violations are ongoing in 29 settlements. Israel’s Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai made public a list of 29 settlements that breached the freeze order. Vilnai made this disclosure in response to an official inquiry from MK Haim Oron, a member of the liberal Meretz party. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued the freeze order in late November under pressure from the United States. The ban applies only to new construction in settlements outside a band of settlements that surround Jerusalem. Even under this narrow definition, Peace Now says it was able to document violations in a total of 33 settlements. Peace Now said its workers documented construction taking place at night and on weekends. The group posted video of new foundations being dug for buildings in the settlement Talmon. The group also released an audio recording of an Israeli contractor admitting that it plans to go ahead with a government approved plan to build totally new buildings in the settlement Beitar Illit. Nearly half a million Israelis live in settlements built on land taken from Palestinians after the 1967 occupation of the West Bank. Most settlers live in what Israel considers greater Jerusalem, an area not included in the current freeze. |
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