Israeli housing plan sparks fury
The government published tenders for a series of building projects planned for three West Bank settlements on occupied land in defiance of a US-backed "road map" peace plan that calls for a halt to construction at settlements.
Housing Ministry spokesman Koby Bleich said the tenders were part of "a government policy by which we are to advance and develop communities in Judea and Samaria (biblical names for the West Bank) in accordance with needs and natural growth".
But Palestinians denounced the move. The international community views all Jewish settlements on occupied territory as illegal. Israel disputes this.
"This is evidence that the road map has been fully assassinated by an Israeli policy of settlement expansion, to which the United States is a witness," Palestinian cabinet member Yasser Abed Rabbo said.
Palestinian anger had already been stoked by the Israeli government's overwhelming endorsement on Wednesday of plans for a new phase in a vast barrier that cuts deep into the West Bank.
"Israel is pursuing its crimes by expanding this racist and Nazi wall that expropriates our land," Palestinian President Yasser Arafat said at his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
He accused Israel of "sabotaging and destroying the peace process" and appealed to the "Quartet" of Middle East peacemakers the United States, Russia, European Union and United Nations to stop Israel going ahead with project.
Israel, which says the road map has stalled because of Mr Arafat's failure to rein in militant attacks, maintains it is trying to seal out suicide bombers and protect settlements with the barrier. Palestinians call it a new "Berlin Wall".
Washington, which has threatened to deduct part of the cost of the barriers from $9 billion in loan guarantees, shied away from public criticism of the Israeli decision but said it would go on discussing its concerns with Israeli officials.
An Israeli government official denied international suggestions that Israel was creating a de facto border prejudging future negotiations.
Palestinians were alarmed at Israel's estimate that new sections of the barrier would leave towns and villages with 60,000 inhabitants on the Israeli side, making it difficult for them to reach other parts of the West Bank. The plan calls for 604 new units near Jerusalem.
About 230,000 Jews live in 150 settlements scattered among 3.6 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip lands Israel seized in the 1967 Middle East war.
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