Israeli construction in settlements unabated: report By Brenda Gazzar and Arshad Mohammed
2 hours, 10 minutes ago

Construction is continuing unabated in 101 Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, Israel's Peace Now group said on Monday in a report released during a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

The report contained little new information on Israel's settlement activities on land Palestinians want for a state but pointed to government policy which the group described as a "slap in the face" to U.S.-brokered peace efforts.

Rice wrapped up a visit to Israel on Monday by sitting down with the lead Israeli and Palestinian negotiators seeking to reach a statehood deal by the end of this year.

There has been no visible progress in the discreet talks between Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and former Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qurie on how to solve the six-decade conflict.

The effort, launched by U.S. President George W. Bush in November, has been marred by disputes over Israeli settlement building, violence and political divisions on both sides.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government could unravel if talks focus on the thorny issue of Jerusalem, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's authority extends only to the occupied West Bank. Islamist Hamas, officially committed to Israel's destruction, seized the Gaza Strip in June.

A senior Israeli official said Rice was testing the water to see if it would be possible to present a draft declaration or memorandum of understanding as an interim "achievement" when Bush returns to the region in May to mark the 60th anniversary of the Jewish state's founding.

"She wants something before he comes in May," the official said. A senior Western diplomat said the proposed document would present "the final status issues without the details."

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, who attended the Rice-Abbas meeting, said the secretary of state did not propose crafting any interim documents for Bush's return.

Rice, who met earlier on Monday with Olmert, was to fly to Jordan later to see Abbas for a second time during her trip.

101 SETTLEMENTS

Peace Now said Israel was building in 101 settlements and not a single construction project had been frozen despite a U.S.-backed peace road map's call for a halt to all settlement activity in the West Bank.

The group, which regards settlements as harmful to Israel's security, society and economy, said construction of at least 500 buildings was under way in the enclaves.

The Word Court has determined that settlement building on land captured in the 1967 Middle East war is illegal.

Peace Now noted that Israel announced this year plans to build hundreds of housing units for Jews in and near Arab East Jerusalem, a surge compared with two tenders issued in all of 2007 for the construction of 46 homes in the area.

Defying U.S. criticism, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said last week that Israel would not stop building on occupied land in and around Jerusalem, construction Palestinians see a bid to cut off East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank.

Israel regards all of Jerusalem as its capital, a claim that has not won international recognition. Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be the capital of the state they hope to establish in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Close to half a million Jews live on West Bank land captured by Israel in 1967, including East Jerusalem. Some settlers claim a God-given right to live in lands they call Judea and Samaria. About 2.5 million Palestinians reside in the West Bank.

(Reporting by Brenda Gazzar, Adam Entous, Arshad Mohammed and Wafa Amr, Editing by Samia Nakhoul