BICOM

Israel’s Civil Administration, which is responsible for non-military matters in the West Bank, yesterday submitted a plan for a large-scale project to construct 1,140 homes for Palestinians north of Jericho, situated on land designated in Area C of the West Bank, under full Israeli control.

The project, on 1,800 dunams of land is intended to primarily provide a housing solution to Palestinian Bedouins in the area who currently live in unauthorised homes, which are often not connected to public utilities. The Civil Administration emphasised that the plan had been put together “with the understanding” of local Palestinian villages and the Palestinian Authority. The plot of land is situated just north of Jericho and initial construction will focus on individual homes.

The announcement comes amid concerted efforts by US Secretary of State to kick-start talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Kerry has visited the region four times since taking office in February. The issue of West Bank construction has been highlighted as a potential stumbling block in bringing the two sides together and yesterday’s announcement follows on from suggestions last week that Israel’s government had instituted a de-facto freeze on Israeli settlement building designed to give Kerry’s efforts the opportunity to bear fruit.

Settlement leaders yesterday criticised the new construction plan.  Yigal Delmonti, a spokesman for the Council of Jewish Communities of Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip termed it the “theatre of the absurd,” saying “Israel is advancing plans to build thousands of Palestinian homes in Area C… while at the same time they are stopping building tenders for Israeli settlements.” The Civil Administration’s construction plans for the project must now go through several approval stages, including a sixty day period to allow for objections to be filed.