Tuesday, July 07, 2009

US TAKES 1350 PALESTINIANS

Risking Israel's ire, US takes 1,350 Palestinian refugees
By Patrik Jonsson – Tue Jul 7, 5:00 am ET


Atlanta – The State Department confirmed today that as many as 1,350 Iraqi Palestinians – once the well-treated guests of Saddam Hussein and now at outs with much of Iraqi society – will be resettled in the US, mostly in southern California, starting this fall.It will be the largest-ever resettlement of Palestinian refugees into the US – and welcome news to the Palestinians who fled to Iraq after 1948 but who have had a tough time since Mr. Hussein was deposed in 2003. Targeted by Iraqi Shiites, the mostly-Sunni Palestinians have spent recent years in one of the region's roughest refugee camps, Al Waleed, near Iraq's border with Syria.Really for the first time, the United States is recognizing a Palestinian refugee population that could be admitted to the US as part of a resettlement program, says Bill Frelick, refugee policy director at Human Rights Watch in Washington.Given the US's past reluctance to resettle Palestinians – it accepted just seven Palestinians in 2007 and nine in 2008 –the effort could ruffle some diplomatic feathers.For many in the State Department and international community, the resettlement is part of a moral imperative the US has to clean up the refugee crisis created by invading Iraq. The US has already stepped up resettlement of Iraqis, some who have struggled to adjust to life in America.The resettlement of Iraqi Palestinians is an important gesture for the United States to demonstrate that we're not heartless,says Alon Ben-Meir, a professor of international relations and Middle Eastern studies at New York University.But some critics say the State Department is sloughing off its problems onto American cities, especially since in this case the Palestinians were sympathizers of Hussein, who was deposed by the US.

This is politically a real hot potato,says Mark Krikorian, director of the conservative Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, adding, [A]merica has become a dumping ground for the State Department's problems – they're tossing their problems over their head into Harrisburg, Pa., or Omaha, Neb.

Saddam's guests
Palestinian refugees came to Iraq in successive waves over several decades, first in 1948, then in 1967, and in 1991. They were treated well under Hussein but were also used to attack Israeli policies, and their presence was resented by many Iraqis.After Hussein was deposed in 2003, many of these Palestinians were driven out of their homes and now live at the mercy of the weather in rough camps along the Syrian and Jordanian border, says Mr. Ben-Meir. The number of Palestinians in Iraq has fallen from around 34,000 to an estimated 15,000, with about 2,773 living in camps, according to the State Department.The US, which takes in about 80,000 refugees annually, hopes to bring 17,000 Iraqi refugees this year.

Categorized as Iraqi refugees
While the US generally doesn't accept Palestinians, Todd Pierce, a spokesman for the State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, says that the Iraqi population of Palestinians falls under a different category from those in Gaza and the West Bank. Each applicant will be carefully scrutinized for terrorist ties, he adds.The US reluctance to accept Palestinians is because it doesn't want the refugee program to become an issue in its relationship with Israel,says a diplomat in the region, who requested anonymity because he is not cleared to talk to the press. But these Palestinians, he says, will be processed as refugees from Iraq.Mr. Krikorian says the US should be the last refuge for those fleeing persecution. Only Jordan of all the Arab countries routinely grants citizenship to Palestinian refugees, he notes. More recently, says Mr. Frelick, Jordan has also shut its borders to Palestinians coming from Iraq.Frelick, who has visited a camp on the Jordanian border, said the Iraqi Palestinians are apolitical, and basically desperate, scared, miserable, and ready to just get out of Iraq.

German foreign minister starts Mideast tour Sun Jul 5, 5:31 pm ET

BERLIN (AFP) – Germany's foreign minister left for Israel Sunday at the start of a two-day tour that will also take in Syria and Lebanon and is aimed at lending support to the new US engagement in the region.Frank-Walter Steinmeier is to hold talks in Jerusalem Monday with Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu, President Shimon Peres and the leader of the opposition Kadima party, Tzipi Livni.He will also pay his respects at the Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem and meet representatives of the Palestinian Authority.Steinmeier, who is also vice-chancellor and is challenging conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel in a September general election, is on his 14th Middle East tour since taking office in November 2005 in a left-right government.He aims to underline Germany's desire to actively back US President Barack Obama's drive to kickstart the dormant peace process between Israelis and Palestinians and enlist the support of regional neighbours.We have had new momentum in the Middle East peace process since the new government took office in Washington and support its fresh efforts to reach a two-state solution and a return to negotiations, a ministry spokesman, Andreas Peschke, told reporters Friday.Germany sees the absence of violence surrounding the Lebanese elections on June 7 and improved relations between Lebanon and Syria as factors that present a window of opportunity that Europe must help to seize.

Peschke said Germany was pursuing a Middle East policy, in close consultations with its European partners and the United States, that moved away from slogans and focused on practical assistance on the ground.Such steps include development assistance for the Palestinians and training for security forces in the territories to help prepare for eventual statehood.Steinmeier faced criticism from the chancellery, the United States and France for earlier efforts to engage Syria.But each has since softened its stance toward the country. The Obama administration has said it would send an ambassador back to Damascus after a four-year hiatus amid a region-wide drive to lay the groundwork for Middle East peace.During his stop in Damascus Tuesday, Steinmeier holds talks with his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Muallem and President Bashar al-Assad before meeting with Lebanese President Michel Sleiman and designated prime minister Saad Hariri in Beirut.He will return to Berlin late Tuesday.

Saudis would ignore Israeli jets en route to Iran: report Sun Jul 5, 8:12 am ET

LONDON (AFP) – Saudi Arabia would turn a blind eye to Israeli warplanes flying over the kingdom in any raid on Iran's nuclear sites, The Sunday Times said in a report denied by Israel.Citing diplomatic sources, it said the head of Israel's Mossad intelligence service had assured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Saudi Arabia has tacitly agreed to the use of its airspace.Netanyahu's office denied the report, however, calling it fundamentally wrong and baseless.The Sunday Times said Mossad director Meir Dagan had held secret talks with Saudi officials to discuss the possibility.The Saudis have tacitly agreed to the Israeli air force flying through their airspace on a mission which is supposed to be in the common interests of Israel and Saudi Arabia,it quoted a diplomatic source as saying.Israel and Saudi Arabia have no formal diplomatic relations but Mossad has working relations with the Saudis, the newspaper added, citing an Israeli defence source.

Israeli sub enters Suez Canal for first time: report Sun Jul 5, 3:20 am ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) – An Israeli submarine used the Suez Canal for the first time recently to get to military exercises in the Red Sea, a paper said, adding the move was aimed as a message to arch-foe Iran.The Dolphine submarine entered the canal that connects the Mediterranean and the Red Seas during the day and was escorted by Egyptian navy vessels sometime in June, the Yediot Aharonot daily said.Previously Israeli submarines rounded the whole of Africa to get to exercises in the Red Sea, Israel's biggest-selling newspaper said.The daily said that with the move Egypt and Israel wanted to show their coordination in the face of Iran pursuing its nuclear programme.No comment on the report was immediately available from either Israeli or Egyptian officials.Israel, widely considered to be the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear power, suspects Iran of trying to build atomic weapons under the guise of a civilian nuclear programme, a charge Tehran has vehemently denied.The Jewish state sees the Islamic republic as its top enemy following repeated assertions by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that Israel is doomed to be wiped off the map.

Palestinian police arrest West Bank plotters Sat Jul 4, 12:34 pm ET

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – Palestinian security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas have seized large cash sums and West Bank homes from men they accuse of plotting to kill government officials, a security source said on Saturday.The official, who could not be named, said evidence would only be produced at a later date but added that over the past few weeks men known to have connections to Islamist Hamas have been arrested at a number of locations in the West Bank.Security forces have seized some $8.5 million in cash since March until now and have arrested a number of people who have recently purchased homes adjacent to government and military installations, mainly in the city of Nablus. We will produce the evidence at the appropriate time,the official told Reuters.He said investigators suspected that the location of the homes allowed operatives loyal to Hamas to observe movements by government officials and security forces.The official said forces had also seized uniforms used by various Palestinian security forces.Hamas's intention is to establish a parallel security services in the West Bank,the source said.

There was no immediate comment from Hamas.

Last week, Tayyeb Abdel Rahim, a top aide to Abbas, said about 10 Hamas loyalists were arrested on suspicion of planning attacks against Palestinian officials and institutions in the West Bank. Hamas said the accusations were false.Saturday's accusations are the latest in series of claims and counter-claims by the rival factions, both of whom seek dominate the Palestinian political scene.Tension between Islamist Hamas and Western-backed Abbas's secular Fatah faction has increased since Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in a brief but bloody civil war two years ago. Fatah still holds sway in the West Bank.Both sides also accuse each other of arresting men from the other faction and of torturing detainees.For months, Fatah and Hamas have tried to agree a power-sharing deal in Egyptian-brokered reconciliation talks but earlier this week they again failed to clinch a deal, missing a July 7 deadline for an agreement.The Egyptian mediators have now set July 28 as the target date for a deal.Abbas wants to reinstate his authority in the Gaza Strip and Hamas hopes a deal can persuade the West to ease restrictions imposed on it over its refusal to recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept Israeli-Palestinian interim peace accords.(Reporting by Mohammed Assadi in Ramallah, writing by Ori Lewis; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

Saturday, July 04, 2009

BARAK MITCHELL MEET ON SETTLEMENTS

Barak, Mitchell to meet again on settlements By STEVE WEIZMAN, Associated Press Writer JULY 4,09

JERUSALEM – An Israeli defense official says Defense Minister Ehud Barak is to hold a second round of talks with U.S. special Mideast peace envoy George Mitchell next week in an effort to resolve differences between the two sides on Jewish settlements in the West Bank.The official spoke on condition of anonymity as neither Israel or the U.S. has made a formal announcement. He said the meeting was expected to take place in London on Monday, less than a week after Barak and Mitchell met in New York.The U.S. wants settlement construction halted completely to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Israel's insistence that building within existing settlements be allowed to accommodate growing families and marriages has been an irritant in its relations with President Barack Obama's administration.After his June 30 meeting with Mitchell, Barak said Israel is considering what it can do to enable the Mideast peace process and allow Palestinian-Israeli negotiations to take off, including instituting a temporary freeze on settlements.But when asked by reporters whether Israel would agree to a freeze of perhaps three to six months, Barak replied: I think it's a little bit too early to predict.

He added that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would meet Mitchell in the next two or three weeks.Netanyahu was scheduled to see Mitchell last month in Paris but called the meeting off in an apparent sign of growing friction over Obama's call for a halt to settlement construction.Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said peace talks cannot resume until settlement construction in Palestinian territories comes to a complete halt.

Syria mends US, Arab ties as ally Iran in turmoil By SAM F. GHATTAS, Associated Press Writer – Fri Jul 3, 4:50 pm ET

BEIRUT – Syria's leader sent a July 4 message full of praise to President Barack Obama on Friday and invited him to visit Syria — the latest signs Damascus is hedging its bets in Mideast politics, warming up to its rival the United States at a time when its longtime ally Iran is in turmoil.The United States and its Arab allies have been hoping to pull Syria out of the fold of Iran and Islamic militant groups in the region.Damascus so far appears unlikely to take such a dramatic step, but it does appear worried about Iran's reliability and the long-term impact of that country's postelection unrest. Also, its Lebanese ally Hezbollah suffered a setback when its coalition failed to win June parliament elections, beaten out by a pro-U.S. bloc.

Syrian President Bashar Assad has been expressing hopes for better ties with Washington for months. But the latest developments may make dialogue look even more attractive.Assad sent a telegram to Obama on the occasion of the July 4 Independence Day holiday, saying, The values that were adopted by President Obama during his election campaign and after he was elected president are values that the world needs today.It is very important to adopt the principle of dialogue in relations with countries based on respect and mutual interest,Assad said in the telegram, which was carried by state-run news agency SANA.In an interview with Britain's Sky News, Assad invited Obama to visit Damascus to discuss Mideast peace.We would like to welcome him in Syria, definitely. I am very clear about this,Assad said in English. Asked whether such a visit could take place soon, Assad said: That depends on him.He added with a smile,I will ask you to convey the invitation to him.The last time a U.S. president visited Syria was a 1994 trip by Bill Clinton.For the U.S., even pulling Syria only partly away from Iran and its militant allies would represent a major shift and could help ease Mideast crises. The U.S.-Syrian rivalry has fueled instability in Lebanon, and the U.S. and Israel say Syria's backing of the Palestinian Hamas undermines the Arab-Israeli peace process. Syrian cooperation could make Obama's fresh push for a peace deal take off.The Obama administration has stepped up its wooing of Syria. The U.S. is sending back its ambassador to Damascus after a four-year break over terrorism accusations. Obama's special Mideast peace envoy, George Mitchell, became the highest-level U.S. administration official to visit Damascus since 2005, and he acknowledged Syria's clout, declaring Damascus has a key role to play in forging Mideast peace.

In a separate interview with Sky News, Assad's wife, Asma, said she believed the Syrian and American leaders could work together.The fact that President Obama is young — well President Assad is also very young as well — so maybe it is time for these young new leaders to make a difference in the world,she said.In one sign of Syrian cooperation on regional issues, Damascus is believed to have played a behind-the-scenes role in ensuring Lebanon's elections remained peaceful.Damascus likely won't move away from its Iran alliance easily. Iran's regional clout has been key to boosting Syria's status in the Middle East, and Tehran gives considerable financial and military backing. Assad was the first Arab leader to congratulate Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for winning the disputed presidential election.But Iran is now mired in the fallout from that election, following the widespread protests that erupted amid claims Ahmadinejad's victory in the June election was fraudulent. A heavy crackdown has largely quelled the protests, but the show of anger has raised questions over Ahmadinejad's long-term legitimacy.All the world around Syria on which it built its policy is falling apart,said Sateh Noureddine, managing editor of the Lebanese As-Safir daily, which tilts toward Syria's Lebanese allies.Hezbollah lost the election in Lebanon, Hamas is being subjected to unprecedented attrition and Iran is drowned in its internal crises,he told The Associated Press.All the elements of strength they (Syrians) built on their foreign policy are collapsing, so for certain they are going to reassess and look for alternatives, without abandoning their past.Writing in the Saudi-owned daily Al-Hayat, Saudi analyst Dawood al-Shirian urged Syria to take this opportunity and rid itself of having to pay a price for the Iranians' reputation.U.S. ally Saudi Arabia — one of the bitterest rivals of Syria in the region since 2005 — has been working in recent months to thaw ties with Damascus in hopes of drawing it away from Iran.The oil powerhouse sent a senior envoy to Damascus on June 28. Assad and Saudi King Abdullah have twice met in recent months in Riyadh and Kuwait, and there has been persistent media speculation that Abdullah will visit Damascus in July — perhaps as early as next week — to crown the renewed relationship.

Assad and Jordan's king have also recently exchanged visits for the first time in several years.

Syria has several long-term aims in any reconciliation with the U.S. Assad has said he wants the U.S. to mediate Syrian-Israeli negotiations, in which Damascus seeks the return of the Golan Heights, which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. Syria also wants U.S. economic sanctions lifted and foreign investment, particularly Gulf Arab money for its economy. It is also wary of an international tribunal set up to try the perpetrators of the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in Beirut at a time when Syria controlled the country.Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus and Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.

Obama believes pope will share view on Middle East: report Fri Jul 3, 3:06 pm ET

ROME (AFP) – US President Barack Obama said in an interview published Friday he thought Pope Benedict XVI would share my approach on policy in the Middle East.Obama, who is due to meet the pope on July 10, told Catholic Italian newspaper Avvenire he was keen to discuss the situation in the Middle East with the head of the Roman Catholic Church.It is a subject I am keen to discuss with the pope, I think he will share my approach,said Obama, who will meet the pope after the G8 summit in the central Italian town of L'Aquila.Obama has made relaunching the Middle East peace process a top priority, pledging a new beginning for Islam and the United States in a landmark speech to the world's Muslims delivered in Cairo last month.He has also bluntly called for Israel to halt settlement activity on Palestinian land while urging Arabs to move closer to making peace with Israel.Asked about US policy in the region, Obama told Avvenire: What the United States can do, without imposing a solution, is to hold a mirror up to both of the parties to show them the consequences of their actions.

He went on: On one hand, it is not just Israel's fault.The Palestinians have the responsibility to stop the violence and Arab countries in the region must understand that Israel is called upon to take some very difficult political decisions, the Jewish state has security needs like any country,he said.Obama said he hoped to find much common ground with the pope from peace in the Middle East to the fight against poverty, from climate change to immigration.All these areas where the pope has shown extraordinary leadership,he told Avvenire, the Italian bishops' mouthpiece.

Bahrain officials make unprecedented Israel visit Fri Jul 3, 1:40 pm ET

MANAMA (AFP) – An official Bahrain delegation travelled to Israel on an unprecedented trip to recover a group of nationals held by the Jewish state, the state news agency reported on Friday.According to BNA, the Bahrainis were in a group of pro-Palestinian activists on a ship seized by the Israeli navy on Tuesday as it headed for the Gaza Strip in defiance of Israel's blockade of the territory.Israel handed over the Bahraini citizens at the international airport near Tel Aviv, BNA said, without saying how many people were involved.Bahrain -- a staunch US ally which also hosts the US Navy's Fifth fleet -- does not recognise Israel and reports of the trip were the first to be announced publicly.Last October the foreign minister of Bahrain, Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmad al-Khalifa, triggered criticism at home for suggesting the creation of a regional organisation that would include Israel.Bahrain's crown prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa met Israeli officials during World Economic Forum summits in 2000 and 2003, while Sheikh Khaled met former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni at the United Nations in 2007.

But political groupings in Bahrain, which is ruled by a Sunni dynasty and has a Shiite majority, resist any attempt at normalisation of ties with Israel.Only two Arab countries -- Egypt and Jordan -- have full fledged peace treaties with Israel. Bahrain's Gulf neighbour Qatar, another close US ally, is one of a handful of Arab countries to maintain political contacts with Israel.

Israel rejects unbalanced Amnesty report on Gaza war Thu Jul 2, 3:24 am ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel rejected an Amnesty International report that accused it of committing war crimes in the Gaza Strip, and said the human rights group was manipulated by Hamas.The slant of their report indicates that the organisation succumbed to the manipulations of the Hamas terror organisation, the Israeli military said in a statement.London-based Amnesty accused Israeli forces of war crimes, saying they used civilians, including children as human shields and conducted wanton attacks on civilians during the December-January Gaza offensive.Israel called the report unbalanced and said it presented a distorted view of the laws of war that does not comply with the rules implemented by democratic states battling terror.It ignores the efforts of the IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) to minimise as much as possible harming uninvolved non-combatant civilians,it said.It insisted Israeli forces used various fighting methods and advanced technology to minimise harm to the civilian population while engaging terrorists who were operating from densely populated areas and using the local population as human shields.Amnesty said it found no evidence the Hamas rulers of Gaza had used civilians as human shields, but claimed Israeli forces forced Palestinian families to remain in one room of their home while using the rest of the house as a base and sniper position.Israel accused the rights group of ignoring the blatant violations of international law perpetrated by Hamas.Thirteen pages of the 117-page report are devoted to the conduct of Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups and points out the rocket attacks they carried out against Israel constitute war crimes.More than 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis died during the massive offensive launched by Israel in response to rocket fire from Palestinian militants.

Israel rejects total settlement freeze Thu Jul 2, 2:15 am ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel will not impose a complete halt on settlement construction on occupied Palestinian land as demanded by the United States, a senior official said.

Israel will not freeze natural growth and will not suffocate the life of 300,000 Israelis who live in settlements in all legality, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon told public radio.The international community considers all settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem illegal, saying they violate international law under which an occupying power cannot transfer part of its population to the land it occupies.The US administration is pressing Israel to freeze all construction activity in the settlements, which are seen as a major hurdle in efforts to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians.Ayalon made it clear he did not believe the Palestinians were willing to make any concessions.One cannot demand immediate and complete payment by Israel if the other side is not willing to take the slightest step,he said.Israeli media has said hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was willing to consider a three-month construction freeze, but would exclude east Jerusalem from the moratorium, as well as the 2,000 to 3,200 private homes currently being built in the West Bank.

Israel considering options to promote peace By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer – Tue Jun 30, 8:38 pm ET

NEW YORK – Israel is considering what it can do to enable a full-fledged Mideast peace process and Palestinian-Israeli negotiations to take off, including instituting a temporary freeze on settlements, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Tuesday.

But after four hours of talks with U.S. special Mideast peace envoy, George Mitchell, Barak would not commit to a temporary settlement freeze.Asked whether Israel would agree to a freeze of perhaps three to six months, Barak replied: I think it's a little bit too early to predict.The U.S. wants settlement construction to stop completely to help revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Israel's insistence that natural growth be allowed in existing settlements to deal with births and marriages has been an irritant in its relations with President Barack Obama's administration.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said peace talks cannot resume until settlement construction in Palestinian territories comes to a complete halt.We are considering every positive contribution Israel can make towards the taking off of a significant, important peace effort,Barak told reporters after the meeting at a New York hotel.He said it was important to look at the wider picture and to deal with each and every issue including the settlements.We think this wider framework ... is needed in order to enable (a) full-fledged regional peace process and a promising Palestinian-Israeli track as well as other tracks taking off successfully in a positive way,Barak said.He said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would meet Mitchell in the next one, two or three weeks.Netanyahu had planned to see Mitchell last week in Paris but called the meeting off in an apparent sign of growing friction over Obama's call for a halt to settlement construction.Looking ahead to the Netanyahu-Mitchell meeting, Barak said, I believe it will contribute to further moving forward of the prospects of a regional peace and Israeli-Palestinian peace led by the United States.Mitchell appeared for a photo opportunity with Barak before the talks began but did not make any comments.I don't think we are stuck now,Barak said after the meeting.He called his talks with the U.S. envoy positive and in a good atmosphere, even though there are still differences.They covered a wide range of issues including the strategic situation in the Middle East, prospects for a U.S.-led regional peace initiative which we in Israel support fullheartedly,and potential negotiations with the Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese, Barak said.

Lieberman accuses Sarkozy of meddling Tue Jun 30, 3:14 am ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman issued a tough rebuke after French President Nicolas Sarkozy was quoted as suggesting the ultra-nationalist Israeli official be fired.If this report is correct then this is an unacceptable interference in internal Israeli affairs,Lieberman's office said.The statement was issued after Israel's Channel 2 television reported that Sarkozy had urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a meeting in Paris last week to get rid of Lieberman, who heads the far right-wing Yisrael Beitenu party.Netanyahu reportedly defended his minister, saying that in private he is pragmatic,to which Sarkozy is said to have responded that controversial far-right French politician Jean-Marie Le Pen is very pleasant in private.A staunch defender of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, Lieberman has been called a racist by critics over his anti-Arab diatribes.

Israel to build 50 new homes at West Bank settlement By Ori Lewis – Mon Jun 29, 3:35 pm ET

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel's Defense Ministry said on Monday it had approved construction of 50 new homes at a West Bank settlement as part of a plan for 1,450 housing units, an expansion that defies a U.S. call for a settlement freeze.News of the planned building work emerged hours before Defense Minister Ehud Barak left for the United States for talks aimed at narrowing a rift with Washington over settlements.He will meet President Barack Obama's Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, in New York on Tuesday, Barak's office said.An affidavit submitted by the Defense Ministry to the Supreme Court outlined plans to relocate settlers from Migron, an outpost built in the West Bank without Israeli government permission, to the settlement of Adam, north of Jerusalem.According to the document, a response to a court case brought by the Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now, a master plan for Adam calls for the construction of 1,450 homes there.But the ministry said it had given the go-ahead for the construction of only 50 of the dwellings and any additional units would require its separate approval.Separately, Israel went public with a plan to expropriate 139 sq. kms (54 sq. miles) of West Bank land, including shoreline exposed by the receding Dead Sea, saying it would give Palestinians 45 days to contest the decision in court.Hatem Abdel-Qader, Palestinian minister for Jerusalem affairs, denounced what he said would be the largest area of land ever confiscated by Israel in one go since 1967,when the West Bank and East Jerusalem were captured from Jordan in a war.

STATEHOOD

Obama has pressed Israel to halt settlement activity as part of a bid to revive peace talks under which the Palestinians would gain statehood.In a rare dispute between Israel and its main ally, the United States, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to declare a settlement freeze, saying some construction should continue to match population growth within the enclaves.Some 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Palestinians say settlements, deemed illegal by the World Court, could deny them a viable and contiguous state.Underscoring tensions, Palestinians said settlers raided the West Bank village of Asira al-Qiblya, firing guns at the windows of buildings. Two Palestinians were injured, said Ghasan Daghlas, an official in nearby Nablus, quoting the villagers.An Israeli military spokesman quoted settlers as saying the incident began with a Palestinian arson attack on nearby Yitzhar settlement. Settlers tried to douse the flames and were stoned by Palestinians, he said, adding that a settler was hurt.The spokesman said he had no knowledge of live rounds being fired, saying troops called to quell the disturbance had used riot-dispersal gear usually a reference to rubber bullets.In the West Bank city of Ramallah, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas reiterated his refusal to resume negotiations with Israel until it froze settlement.

We won't accept the continuation of settlements,he said.

Abbas also urged Netanyahu to drop his conditions for the creation of a Palestinian state, which include international guarantees it would have no army and a demand the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state. Israel should accept the two-state vision and not put conditions that would render the issue meaningless,Abbas said.

Barak left open the possibility of a limited, temporary halt to construction in settlements in comments he made on Sunday in response to an Israeli newspaper report that he would propose a three-month moratorium. Barak has also spoken of couching a Palestinian deal within a wider Israeli-Arab peace accord. A goal of the Israeli-U.S. negotiations is advancing a process for a comprehensive regional settlement in the Middle East,Barak's office quoted him as saying in a statement.Peace Now said some 2,500 settlement homes are currently under construction in the West Bank. (Additional reporting by Mohammed Assadi in Ramallah and Joseph Nasr in Jerusalem; Editing by Ralph Boulton)

World Bank approves Dead Sea canal plan: Israel Sat Jun 27, 1:33 pm ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) – The World Bank has approved a pilot plan for a canal linking the Red Sea to the rapidly shrinking Dead Sea, Israeli Development Minister Sylvan Shalom announced on Saturday.Israeli public radio said the bank will provide 1.25 billion dollars in finance for the project.The initial proposal is for a 180 kilometre (110 miles) channel to transport 200 cubic metres of water, of which half would gush into the Dead Sea and half would feed a giant desalination plant jointly run by Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority, Shalom's ministry said.The next stage would see the construction of a canal to supply two billion m3 of water a year to maintain and increase water levels in the Dead Sea, which is on course to dry out completely by 2050 if nothing is done.Shalom, who met World Bank president Robert Zoellick in Washington on Friday, said approval from the global institution was a spectacular development aimed at relaunching the project.The idea of a link between the Red Sea and the Dead Sea, the lowest point on the planet, was first mooted several years ago and in December 2006 representatives from Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Authority ordered a feasibility study.Progressed has been slow because of the stalling of the Middle East peace process.The level of the Dead Sea, a natural site of prime historic and economic importance, has been falling by a metre (three feet) every year, creating major environmental problems.

Israel to register land near West Bank settlement Sat Jun 27, 5:17 am ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel has decided to register some 13,900 hectares of land adjacent to its largest West Bank settlement, a step that could pave the way for its expansion, a newspaper reported on Saturday.The Palestinian Al-Quds newspaper published an order on Friday from the Israeli military telling Arab residents living near the massive Maale Adumim settlement outside Jerusalem to register their land within 45 days.On Saturday the newspaper reported that the order concerns some 13,900 hectares (about 34,348 acres) of land east of Maale Adumim, near the Dead Sea and the Jordan Valley.The sparsely populated desert region is mostly inhabited by Arab Bedouin tribes, who have been expelled during previous expansions of the settlement, the boundaries of which already extend to the Jordan Valley.US President Barack Obama has pressed Israel to halt all settlement activity, including the so-called "natural growth" in existing settlements in the occupied West Bank, in order to relaunch peace talks with the Palestinians.Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will not build new settlements but will allow growth in existing ones, including Maale Adumim, which Israel intends to keep in any future peace deal.Israel has long sought to expand Maale Adumim westward to incorporate the so-called E-1 area of land that would link it to Jerusalem, but has frozen the project in the face of US pressure.The Palestinians have vigorously opposed any expansion into E-1, saying its incorporation into Maale Adumim would split the occupied West Bank in half and severely threaten the viability of their future state.The presence of more than 280,000 Israeli settlers in more than 100 settlements scattered across the West Bank has long been seen as one of the main obstacles to the Middle East peace process.