Angry Palestinians warn peace is at risk over new Jerusalem plan

ISRAEL plans to build 3,500 new homes for Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank to cement its hold on Jerusalem, government sources said yesterday, drawing Palestinian warnings that peace efforts were at risk.

The blueprint for construction between the Maaleh Adumim settlement and Arab East Jerusalem clashed with a US-backed peace “road map”, despite hopes for a breakthrough buoyed by a truce Israel and the Palestinian Authority declared last month.

The road map requires a halt to settlement expansion in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and sought by Palestinians for a future state. But US President George W Bush said in 2004 that Israel, which intends to quit occupied Gaza this summer, could expect to keep some West Bank settlement blocs under a final peace accord.

However, Mr Bush also expressed support for establishment of a Palestinian state that is viable and contiguous.

Israeli government sources said Ariel Sharon last week approved the construction plan, drawn up six years ago, for 3,500 new homes east of Jerusalem.

Israel regards all of Jerusalem as its undivided capital, a claim that is not recognised internationally.

The Palestinians, who want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state, accused Israel of poor faith in peacemaking.

“By expanding settlements in the West Bank, Israel gives the impression that it intends to exchange Gaza for a ‘Greater Israel’,” said Palestinian Planning Minister Ghassan al-Khatib.

“Israel is responsible for any consequences resulting from this continuous violation of the road map.”

Asked about the new project, a US official said: “We expect Israel to abide by its commitments under the road map.”

In tandem with the home construction, Mr Sharon also ordered a new highway to bypass the area and link the Palestinian-ruled cities to the north and south of Jerusalem, Ramallah and Bethlehem, Israeli government sources said.

As part of the Abbas-Sharon ceasefire, Israel agreed to give security control of five West Bank cities to the Palestinians.

The hand-overs were seen as a gesture to Mr Abbas after he won a commitment from Palestinian militants to extend a de facto truce until the end of this year.

The first city, Jericho, was handed over last week. But a snag in security arrangements held up yesterday’s expected transfer of the second city, Tulkarm.