Israel approves 50 settler homes

[sullivan]

BBC
Israel has approved the construction of 50 new housing units in a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank.

Officials said the homes would house settlers being moved from a nearby unauthorised outpost and were only the first part of an expansion plan.

The move runs counter to a demand by Israel's major ally and backer, the US, that it stop all settlement activity on occupied Palestinian land.

It came hours before Defence Minister Ehud Barak was due to fly to the US.

Correspondents say Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's reluctance to comply with a freeze on building in settlements puts him on a collision course with the US.

Israel argues that settlements must be allowed "natural growth", although recent official statistics showed many new homes are purchased by newcomers from Israel or abroad.

The Palestinian Authority says settlements - which are illegal under international law - are one of the biggest barriers to peace, and has vowed to stay away from negotiations until building work is frozen.

Mr Barak will hold talks in the US with President Barack Obama's Middle East envoy, George Mitchell. Mr Netanyahu and Mr Mitchell were due to meet in Paris last Thursday, but their talks were cancelled.

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