Israel's Likud backs West Bank settlement growth
JUNE 24, 2:50 PM
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel's right-wing Likud party backed on Thursday the expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, with an eye to a building spurt when a building moratorium expires in September.The central committee of the Likud has unanimously approved the pursuit of construction and development in Judea and Samaria,said a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's party, using the Biblical name for the West Bank.Some 2,500 members of the policy-making central committee debated the motion which supports building and developing throughout the Land of Israel including... Greater Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria.Judea and Samaria are the biblical names for the West Bank. Greater Jerusalem includes mainly Arab east Jerusalem, which was occupied by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed immediately after.The central committee calls on representatives of all (the party's) institutions and on its elected officials to act in conformity with the spirit of this motion and to advance the development of settlements in Judea and Samaria,the statement added.The debate was proposed by legislator Danny Danon in a bid to emphasise the party's wholehearted support for a return to construction when the freeze expires in September, although neither the moratorium nor the deadline was mentioned in the wording of the draft resolution.
The essence of today's decision is that the Likud movement is saying to its leaders, Knesset members, ministers, the prime minister: We are committed to building in Judea and Samaria on September 26 when the (freeze) order runs out and we resume building,he told Israel's educational TV channel.Netanyahu reluctantly imposed a 10-month ban on new building in November following months of US demands for gestures to help relaunch peace talks with the Palestinians suspended during the 2008-2009 Gaza war.But the Palestinians dismissed the move as insufficient because it did not include projects already under way, public buildings or east Jerusalem, which they claim as the capital of their future state.Israel's Peace Now group, which monitors settlements, said last week that so many projects were approved before the freeze began that it has has done little to slow the expansion of settlements.Likud central committee chairman Moshe Kahlon, who is also communications minister, confirmed that the motion did not make direct reference to the freeze or its expiry date.The debate today is not about the freeze,he told the radio. Netanyahu would not attend the committee session in Tel Aviv, Kahlon said, insisting that his absence had no political significance.Likud MP Ofir Akonis told public radio the motion endorsing settlement expansion was so popular that Netanyahu did not need to attend the meeting, while stressing that the premier did support the party's position.On July 6 Netanyahu will meet President Barack Obama in the White House. Washington has repeatedly criticised West Bank settlement as an obstacle to the peace process.
The last thing (Netanyahu) needs is that two weeks before the meeting with US President Barack Obama, he goes to a meeting of his own party which seeks to oblige him to build in Judea and Samaria,the radio station's political reporter said.The Palestinians grudgingly agreed to relaunch indirect US-brokered peace talks with Israel in May, but have said they will not move to direct negotiations without a complete settlement freeze including in east Jerusalem.The presence of nearly half a million Israelis in more than 120 settlements scattered across the West Bank and east Jerusalem has long been seen as a major threat to the establishment of an independent, viable Palestinian state.
Israel to expel Hamas politicians from Jerusalem By BEN HUBBARD, Associated Press Writer - JUNE 24,10
JERUSALEM – Israel's decision to expel four Hamas politicians from Jerusalem threatened to set off a new crisis over the disputed city and could hinder U.S. efforts to restart peace talks.The expulsions of the three Palestinian lawmakers and a former Cabinet minister could start as early as Friday. Israel has not said where they would be sent, but the West Bank is a possible destination.Israel revoked their Jerusalem residency rights in 2006 and arrested them because they belong to Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls the Gaza Strip and has carried out scores of deadly attacks against Israelis. The expulsion orders were delayed because the men have been in prison until recently.Israel has stripped thousands of Palestinians of their residency rights in east Jerusalem since capturing and annexing the area in the 1967 Mideast War. However, human rights activists said Israel has never before stripped Palestinians of Jerusalem residency because of their political affiliation.
This is a very dangerous precedent,Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said.We won't accept it. We won't allow it. We won't just overlook it.He said the Israeli government was creating the biggest obstacles yet on the path to peace.Jerusalem is holy to Muslims, Jews and Christians and the fate of Israeli-annexed eastern sector of the city has been the most explosive issue in two decades of on-and-off negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. The Palestinians want east Jerusalem as a capital, while Israel says it won't relinquish any part of the city.Some 190,000 Israelis have moved into Jewish neighborhoods built since 1967 in east Jerusalem, surrounding the older Arab sections, and Palestinians say this is undermining their claims to the city.Most of the 250,000 Palestinians in Jerusalem carry Israeli-issued residency documents. Israel has stripped those documents from about 13,000, according to government statistics obtained by the Israeli human rights group HaMoked. But in those cases, Israel cited administrative reasons such as staying away from the city for too long.Palestinians say revoking Jerusalem IDs is part of an overall Israeli policy to reduce the number of Jerusalem's Palestinians, who make up one-third the city's population.Hamas and the Western-backed Abbas are bitter rivals, but Abbas apparently spoke out because of concerns that the expulsions will set a precedent of removing Palestinians from Jerusalem for their political views.
The four Hamas politicians said they won't leave voluntarily.They will have to yank me out,said Hamas lawmaker Mohammed Abu Teir, one of those set for expulsion.If Israel goes through with the expulsions, it will almost certainly complicate U.S. attempts to restart direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. For now, a U.S. envoy is shuttling between the two sides, but Abbas insists he won't resume direct talks until Israel freezes all settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories it captured in the 1967 Mideast War.Israel says it has the right to expel the four because they belong to a terror organization.The only precedent here is a very clear warning to Hamas and all those who promote terror that adhering to violence will (have a) backlash, said Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor.Abu Teir and two other Jerusalemites facing expulsion — Mohammed Totah and Ahmed Abu Atoun — were among those elected on a Hamas slate in 2006 when Jerusalem's Arabs participated in elections for a Palestinian parliament. The fourth politician is former Cabinet minister Khaled Abu Arafa.Israel revoked their Jerusalem residency rights in 2006 and arrested them, along with dozens of Hamas politicians from the West Bank, after the capture of an Israeli soldier by Hamas-allied militants in Gaza.My parents and relatives have been in this village and near Jerusalem for 500 years, and you've only been here since 48 when the occupation started,Abu Teir said, addressing the Israelis.Associated Press writers Karin Laub and Dalia Nammari in Ramallah, West Bank, contributed to this report.
Syria, Jordan slam Israel over blocked peace efforts
JUNE 24,10
DAMASCUS (AFP) – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and visiting Jordanian King Abdullah II on Thursday blamed Israel for blocking peace efforts in the Middle East, the official SANA news agency reported.Assad, on the eve of his first Latin American tour, and Abdullah also demanded that Israel lift the inhuman blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip,the agency said.It said the two leaders called for a common international position to face up to the policies of the Israeli government which is blocking peace efforts and any chance of reaching a comprehensive peace in the region.
Israel marks four years since soldier held in Gaza
by Michael Blum - JUNE 24,10
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Four years after Gaza-based Palestinian militants snatched Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, the chances of his release are looking remoter than ever and the family's patience is fast running out.Shalit, now 23, was captured on June 25, 2006 by the Islamist Hamas organisation and two smaller armed groups in a deadly cross-border dawn raid.But years of diplomatic efforts to secure his release, which almost saw a breakthrough in December, have since hit a brick wall.It is also four years since a strict blockade was imposed on Gaza in a bid to force its Hamas rulers into freeing Shalit, but the siege's conditions were eased dramatically this week as Israel bowed to a wave of global pressure.Israel's U-turn on its siege policy came in the wake of a botched raid on a fleet of aid ships which were trying to run the blockade, which left nine foreign activists dead.The move was a bitter blow for the Shalit family.It is a terrible feeling to learn that the prime minister has given in to international pressure without taking our son into account, Noam Shalit said, vowing to pursue a more aggressive campaign for his son's release.Four years, two prime ministers, two defence ministers and two chiefs of staff have failed -- they have all failed to bring Gilad home, he told AFP.In those four years, two successive governments have explored various options for a prisoner swap with Shalit's Hamas captors.Hamas wants Israel to release hundreds of prisoners, including several top militants responsible for killing scores of Israelis, in exchange for Shalit -- a price the Jewish state appears reluctant to pay.Although Israel was reportedly prepared to release 450 prisoners, negotiations hit deadlock in December after the government presented an offer through a German mediator to which Hamas has still not responded.
On Tuesday, the soldier's 86-year-old grandfather Zvi Shalit managed to secure a long-awaited audience with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.But he emerged despondent, saying he was not optimistic.After years of on-off negotiations and no progress to show for it, the family's patience appears to be running out, with Noam Shalit urging Netanyahu to take the necessary difficult and unpopular decisions needed to bring his son home.I won't be happy if terrorists and dangerous murderers and people who have the potential to return to terror are released, but after four years, the time has come to make up one's mind, especially since the government is not proposing any other alternative and there are no negotiations right now and no response from Hamas to the German proposal, he told the Haaretz daily.So would the prime minister kindly make a decision and pay what is being demanded? Over the past four years, the Shalit family has waged an unceasing campaign for his release, meeting world leaders and other key figures in a bid to put pressure on Hamas.French President Nicolas Sarkozy has assured the family of of his full support and said France was committed to securing the release of Shalit, who also has French nationality.Earlier this week, thousands of people staged a large rally of support in Paris, with Noam Shalit himself due to lead another huge demonstration in Rome later on Thursday.
On Friday, the anniversary of his capture, thousands of yellow balloons will be released by supporters across Israel and the world -- yellow being the colour of support for the young captive who is being held in a secret location somewhere in Gaza.And on Sunday, the Shalit family accompanied by thousands of supporters will set off on a march from their home in northern Israel to Netanyahu's Jerusalem residence, a distance of about 200 kilometres (120 miles.) As the march heads south, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra will hold a free concert at a location near the Gaza Strip next week.But as the new campaign to free Shalit gathers pace, his fate still lies in the hands of those involved in the negotiations -- the Israeli government and the radical Hamas movement.I only do what I can do,Noam Shalit said after four years spent battling for his son's release.I fight to save Gilad and to bring him home.
87 US senators support Israeli self-defense
Wed Jun 23, 7:34 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Eighty-seven of the US Senate's 100 members have voiced support for Israel's right to self-defense in the face of threats from Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran, the Senate said Wednesday.The lawmakers wrote in a letter to President Barack Obama that they fully support Israel?s right to self-defense.In response to thousands of rocket attacks on Israel from Hamas terrorists in Gaza, Israel took steps to prevent items which could be used to support these attacks from reaching Gaza,they said, referring to Israel's four-year naval blockade of the Palestinian territory.Israel last week announced it was easing its siege to allow all strictly civilian goods into Gaza, after a crisis exploded when Israeli forces killed nine activists during a May 31 raid on a flotilla of aid ships attempting to run the blockade.The lawmakers, from both sides of the political aisle, also stressed that it is our national interest to support Israel at a moment when Israel faces multiple threats from Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the current regime in Iran.The lawmakers brought particular attention to the Turkish Muslim charity involved with organizing the aid flotilla, and urged Obama to consider branding the IHH -- the acronym for the Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation -- as a terrorist organization, as Israel did earlier this month.They also commended Obama for the action he took to prevent the adoption of an unfair United Nations Security Council resolution (about the deadly raid) which would have represented a rush to judgment by the international community.A UN Security Council statement condemned the attack, but fell short of a call for an independent investigation, with the United States backing an Israeli probe.
Barak seeks to put aside rows to advance peace process
Wed Jun 23, 6:04 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak called here Wednesday for pushing ahead with the Middle East peace process by putting aside rows following a deadly Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.Barak made the comments as he went into talks with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to review Israel's decision to ease its blockade of Gaza and looked at ways to revive direct Israeli-Palestinian talks.We have a full commitment to work together with the secretary and try to find ways to move forward with the peace process in Israel and put aside all the difficulties and rows in the recent weeks, Barak told reporters.The goal is to put them behind us in a proper manner in order to concentrate on how to change the direction of the events in the whole area,the Israeli minister said.In this regard, no one can underestimate the effort, the commitment, the devotion and resources that the secretary puts into helping players in the region to find a way to move forward, Barak said.Clinton welcomed an old friend and someone who is certainly deeply involved in every important decision that affects Israel's security and prospects for peace.Israel was forced to review its Gaza policy after triggering a diplomatic storm when its commandos late last month raided a Gaza-bound aid flotilla from Turkey, killing nine Turkish activists, including a dual US-Turkish national.
Israel announced at the weekend it would allow all strictly civilian goods into Gaza while preventing a specific list of weapons and dual-use items from entering the territory run by the militant group Hamas.Crowley said Barak indicated to the secretary directly that Israel is developing a list of goods that will be allowed into Gaza without actually giving her details.But he made very clear that it (Israel) anticipates a dramatic expansion in the flow of materials into Gaza, Crowley told reporters after the Israeli-US meetings that included a 30-minute face-to-face Barak-Clinton encounter.He indicated that working with the UN and others, he anticipated there would be a significant increase in the projects that will go forward in Gaza. He did not lay out a specific list, Crowley said.Under the previous Israeli policy, cement deliveries were barred for fear that Hamas militants might use them for bunkers or other military purposes.Crowley said that George Mitchell, the US Middle East peace envoy, will return to the region next week to resume the proximity talks, or indirect talks between the two sides.The Palestinians reluctantly agreed to launch the indirect talks in May after months of shuttle diplomacy by US envoy George Mitchell, but said they would not move to direct talks without a complete Israeli settlement freeze.Crowley said Barak and Clinton discussed some of the ways in which we can build momentum to move toward those direct negotiations from the current proximity talks, but gave no details.The State Department spokesman also said that Barak did discuss with Clinton the Israeli investigation into the botched raid on the Gaza-bound aid flotilla.
Israel: Flotillas aim to get weapons to Gaza By MARK LAVIE, Associated Press Writer –Wed Jun 23, 4:34 pm ET
JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu charged Wednesday that the real motivation behind plans to send blockade-busting ships toward Gaza is to allow free flow of weapons into the Palestinian territory.Netanyahu spoke as preparations were under way to send several ships carrying aid and pro-Palestinian activists toward Gaza, setting up potential confrontations at sea.On May 31, Israeli naval commandos killed nine pro-Palestinian activists in clashes aboard a Turkish ship headed for Gaza, setting off a world outcry and forcing Israel to ease its three-year-old blockade.Israel already has warned archenemy Iran to drop its plan to send a blockade-busting ship to Gaza. The Iranian ship is one of several that activists say will head for Gaza in the next few months. One is said to be heading for Gaza from Lebanon within days.On Wednesday, Lebanon warned that it would hold Israel responsible for any further attacks on blockade-busting ships.Netanyahu said his government is drawing up a list of weapons and items with military uses that will not be allowed into Gaza so that we can permit all the rest.He said the new list will be made public in the coming days.In Washington, where Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak met with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the U.S. would be a part of that conversation of drawing up the list.Barak assured Clinton that building materials would be let in for a significant increase in the projects that will go forward in Gaza, Crowley said.Since the violent 2007 takeover of Gaza by Hamas — an Islamic militant group responsible for firing thousands of rockets at Israeli border communities — Israel has let in only limited humanitarian supplies, including basic foods and medicine.
Construction materials, which Israel maintains Hamas could use to make weapons and build bunkers, were barred, and the vast majority of Gaza's 1.5 million people could not travel. The blockade strangled the already poor territory's economy but failed to undermine Hamas, one of the blockade's main goals.Under Israel's new policy, approved Sunday,Anyone who wants to bring products can do so — food, toys, medicines, anything,Netanyahu said Wednesday at his Jerusalem office, where he was meeting Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann.Israel insists that all cargo from the flotillas must be inspected at one of its ports to remove weapons, and then the aid supplies would be transferred over land to Gaza. Flotilla organizers have rejected this procedure, prompting Israel to take control of the boats at sea and bring them to Ashdod port.The May 31 flotilla was made up of six ships, and violence erupted on only one of them. Israel says its commandos were attacked with iron bars, clubs and knives and opened fire in self-defense.
Flotilla organizers say the Israeli gunfire was unprovoked.Netanyahu said the removal of the ban on civilian products shows that the object of the new flotillas is to stage a provocation to break the military quarantine, not the civilian quarantine, that is, the quarantine against missiles, rockets and other weapons.
Netanyahu did not repeat earlier Israeli vows to stop all ships heading for Gaza. Israel's military, stung by the international outrage over its bloody attack on the Turkish flotilla, has been drilling new procedures for stopping ships at sea.Two ships carrying aid are planning to make the trip to Gaza from Lebanon. Lebanese authorities have so far granted one of them permission to sail first to Cyprus and not directly to Gaza because Lebanon and Israel are technically at war. A Lebanese official said Lebanon sent a letter to the U.N. holding Israel responsible for any attack on the ships, noting Lebanon cannot stop ships from leaving its ports if they comply with its law.The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to speak publicly due to the sensitivity of the issue.Associated Press writer Zeina Karam in Beirut and Matthew Lee in Washington, D.C. contributed to this report.
Israel launches spy satellite: defence ministry
Wed Jun 23, 10:35 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel has launched a spy satellite from a base in the south of the country, the defence ministry said, with the device reportedly capable of monitoring arch-foe Iran.A few minutes ago the State of Israel launched the Ofek-9 (Horizon-9) satellite from the Palmachim base, the ministry said on Tuesday.The results of the launch are being examined by the technical team.It gave no details on the satellite, but public radio said it, like its predecessors in the Ofek series, were cable of taking high resolution pictures and aimed at monitoring Iran's nuclear programme.The radio said the satellite was developed by Israel Aircraft Industries and launched on a Shavit rocket.Israel, which has the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear arsenal, regards Iran as its principal threat after repeated predictions by the Islamic republic's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of the Jewish state's demise.Along with the West, it suspects Iran of trying to develop atomic weapons under the guise of its nuclear programme, a claim Tehran denies.With the launch of Ofek-9, Israel has six spy satellites in space.An attempt to launch an Ofek-6 in 2004 failed with the satellite crashing into the Mediterranean Sea after a technical malfunction with the launcher.
Israeli army chief vows to stop Lebanese, Iranian ships
Tue Jun 22, 4:29 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel's army chief vowed Tuesday to prevent Lebanese and Iranian aid ships from entering the Gaza Strip, saying the coastal enclave would not become an Iranian port, media reported.We have the right to inspect and prevent the flow of arms into Gaza, the Ynet news website quoted Israeli chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi as saying.We can't let Gaza become an Iranian port, he said speaking at a Jewish seminary in northern Israel.Earlier Tuesday Iranian Red Crescent officials said an Iranian aid ship is to leave the Gulf port of Bandar Abbas for a 14-day journey to Gaza at the end of this week, the ISNA news agency reported.Lebanese civilian groups are also planning to send two ships to the Israeli-blockaded Palestinian territory via Cyprus.If a flotilla comes from Lebanon we will deal with it. If they are peaceful we will deal with it peacefully, if not we will deal with it as we need to, Ashkenazi said.The planned Iranian and Lebanese aid shipments come after a May 31 Israeli commando raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla that left nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists dead and sparked international outrage.
Israel has eased the blockade on Gaza in the wake of the incident.Israel has argued the closures -- imposed when one of its soldiers was seized by Gaza militants in a deadly June 2006 raid and tightened a year later when Hamas took over -- are needed to contain the Islamist movement.The Jewish state is highly wary of aid flotillas. Israel is officially at a state of war with Lebanon and Israeli media have said that the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah might be planning to send materials into Gaza. Israel argues that Hamas is seeking weapons from the aid missions.Israel views Iran as its principal threat after repeated predictions by the Islamic republic's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of the Jewish state's demise.Along with the West, it suspects Iran of trying to develop atomic weapons under the guise of its nuclear programme, a claim Tehran denies.
Israeli troops arrest four in West Bank raids
Wed Jun 23, 7:26 am ET
RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – Israeli troops overnight arrested four Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, among them a former intelligence officer, a Palestinian security official said Wednesday.The army arrested Shadi Amwasi, 30, who is also a member of president Mahmud Abbas' Fatah party, in Ramallah and searched his home for weapons. The three others were arrested in neighbouring villages, the official said.The military confirmed it arrested four wanted Palestinians without providing further details.The Western-backed Palestinian Authority has long objected to Israeli incursions in Area A, parts of the occupied territory where it enjoys limited self-rule, including its administrative seat in Ramallah.The military says it has the right to operate anywhere in the territory.
Concerns raised over Jerusalem archaeological park
Tue Jun 22, 6:10 am ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The State Department said Monday the United States is concerned over plans announced by the Jerusalem municipality to move ahead on a new archaeological park that call for the demolition of Arab homes.This is expressly the kind of step that we think undermines trust that is fundamental in making progress to the proximity talks and ultimately in direct negotiations, said State Department spokesman Philip Crowley, referring to US efforts to bring Israelis and Palestinians together at talks.We're concerned about it. We've had a number of conversation with the government of Israel about it.The plans, which have raised fears of unrest in the Holy City, call for an archaeological park in a part of the so-called Holy Basin, believed to be the site of ancient Jerusalem during the time of the biblical kings David and Solomon.It is now a crowded Arab neighborhood in a part of the city occupied by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in a move not recognized internationally.The city's planning and building committee approved the Gan Hamelech (King's Garden) project, a municipal spokesman said, using the Hebrew name for the area outside Jerusalem's Old City known as Al-Bustan to its mostly Arab residents.
The plans call for the demolition of 22 Arab homes.In March, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked Jerusalem's Mayor Nir Barkat to freeze the project to avoid sparking conflict in Jerusalem and further straining ties with Washington amid a row over Jewish settlements.
Israeli panel revives East Jerusalem housing plan By Allyn Fisher-Ilan - Mon Jun 21, 5:41 pm ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli municipal authorities moved ahead on Monday with a plan to raze some 20 Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem, risking more U.S.-Israeli friction over a building project seen by Palestinians as settlement expansion.The Jerusalem city planning board ratified a proposal that could renew diplomatic pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a day after he bowed to world calls to ease a Gaza blockade following Israel's deadly raid on an aid flotilla.Citing concern over Israel's international image, Netanyahu had persuaded Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat to put the King's Garden project on hold in March, at a time when Washington was struggling to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the United States was concerned about the project, though he said it was a preliminary step being taken by the Jerusalem municipality and not the Israeli government.We've had a number of conversations with the government of Israel about it,Crowley told reporters in Washington.This would appear to be the kind of action that undermines trust and ... adds to the risk of violence, he said, adding that housing and other projects in the occupied areas of Jerusalem should be decided in talks between the two sides.Netanyahu's office said later in a statement the plan was extremely preliminary and still faced a long process and opposition before it could receive final approval.City spokesman Stephan Miller said the board gave zoning approval for building 1,000 homes across 54 acres in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Silwan.The blueprint also calls for demolishing about 20 Palestinian homes built without permits, while licensing another 60 of the houses Israel says were built illegally.
BUILDING PERMITS AT ISSUE
Palestinians say building permits are impossible to obtain from Israel. The Obama administration has publicly appealed to Netanyahu not to demolish Palestinian homes.
Palestinian leaders have described the project as another attempt by Israel to cement its claim to all of Jerusalem, whose eastern sector it captured in a 1967 war and annexed in a move that is not recognized internationally.This is a municipality of colonization,said Adnan al-Husseini, the Palestinian Authority-appointed governor of Jerusalem.You cannot claim to be building gardens while you are depriving people of a house to live in.Israel drew U.S. anger in March, when it announced during a visit by Vice President Joe Biden a plan to build 1,600 homes for Jews in an area of the occupied West Bank it considers part of Jerusalem. Israel assured Washington building at the Ramat Shlomo settlement site would not begin for at least two years.
Under world pressure to rethink a Gaza embargo condemned by critics as collective punishment, Israel announced on Sunday that it would allow in all goods except for weapons and materials used to make them, while maintaining a sea blockade.Netanyahu announced the new policy, which won U.S. and European praise, together with international Middle East envoy Tony Blair, who had been lobbying Israel to revise an embargo in force since Hamas Islamists rose to power in the coastal territory in 2006.The White House said after the announcement that U.S. President Barak Obama would meet Netanyahu on July 6.Miller said the King's Garden project was intended to improve the quality of life in Silwan and that a park and public complex slated to be built in the area would be used by Arabs and Jews alike. Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be the capital of a state they hope to establish in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.Miller said that even with the approval of the Jerusalem planning board, final ratification of the project, which also must go through a district commission, could take months.Any move that could bring the home demolitions closer seems likely to direct more world anger at Israel, which was rocked by an international outcry over its killing of nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists in the flotilla raid.
Israel said its naval commandos acted in self-defense after activists wielding metal rods and knives swarmed a boarding party in the May 31 interception.(Additional reporting by Mohammed Assadi in Ramallah; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
