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Israel plans more homes in West Bank settlements
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- The Israeli Housing Ministry announced Thursday it is going to build 323 new homes in Jewish settlements in the West Bank. A ministry spokesman said tenders -- invitations for contractors to bid on the construction of houses -- had been issued to build 143 homes in the settlement of Karnei Shomron and another 180 in Givat Zeev near Jerusalem. A spokesman for Peace Now, an Israeli group that monitors settlement building, said Israel has issued 1,627 tenders for buildings in Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza since the beginning of the year. The Israeli government's announcement of plans to build additional housing in the settlements is a highly controversial move. A halt to Israeli settlement construction is a key demand in the stalled U.S.-backed "road map" to peace for the Middle East, and President Bush repeatedly has called for a freeze on settlement activity. After Thursday's announcement, a U.S. State Department official urged Israel to follow its pledge on settlement activity. "Under the road map, Israel has made a commitment to stop settlement activity, and sticking to that commitment is important," said Adam Ereli, a deputy spokesman in the State Department. Earlier this month, Israel issued plans for 600 more homes in the West Bank settlements of Beitar Illit, Ariel and Maale Adumim. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz advertised government tenders for building 530 housing units in Beitar Ilit, 24 units in Ariel and 50 units in Maale Adumim. The road map -- backed by the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia -- is aimed at resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and establishing an independent Palestinian state by 2005. But little progress has been made because of repeated Palestinian terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians and Israeli strikes on Palestinian extremist group members that also have killed and injured bystanders. The road map calls for steps toward peace by both sides, including a stipulation that Israel freeze all construction in Jewish settlements, dismantle illegal settlement outposts built since March 2001 and withdraw from certain areas. According to Haaretz, some 231,000 people live in Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories.
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