West Bank settlement
Photo: AFP
Israel issues tenders for 283 homes in West Bank settlement
After Israel announces largest West Bank land seizure since 1980s, Land Authority announces new homes in settlement of Elkana.
Israel published Friday tenders for 283 new homes in a West Bank settlement, just days after announcing its biggest land grab on Palestinian territory for three decades.
The expansion of the Elkana settlement, in the northwest of the West Bank, was approved in January and the tenders published Thursday, Israel's Land Authority said on its website.
Related stories:
- Lapid: West Bank land seizure harms Israel
- Kerry, Netanyahu discuss Israel's West Bank land seizure
- Yoaz Hendel / What happened to the consensus around Gush Etzion?
It came after Israel announced Sunday its biggest land grab in the West Bank since the 1980s, saying it planned to expropriate 400 hectares of land in the south of the territory, between the cities of Bethlehem and Hebron.
That move drew international condemnation, even from ally the United States and some cabinet ministers.
For example Finance Minister Yair Lapid said the move harms Israel, saying "We have just completed a military operation and we are facing a sensitive international arena. We are already struggling to preserve international support, why was it so urgent to create another crisis with the Americans just now?" Lapid asked rhetorically.
The US State Department urged Israel to "reverse this decision," and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was "alarmed" by Israel's plans.
Israel's settlement building is seen as an obstacle to any lasting peace with the Palestinians, who want their future state to be on land much of which Israel has annexed or built settlements on.
