US expresses 'serious concerns' about Jewish settlements ahead of peace talks
By North America correspondent Jane Cowan, wires
Posted TueTuesday 13 AugAugust 2013 at 3:58amTueTuesday 13 AugAugust 2013 at 3:58am
The United States has expressed "serious concerns" over Israel's decision to expand plans for settlers to build on land Palestinians seek for a state, despite recent peace talks.
Palestinian officials have accused Israel of trying to sabotage the first peace talks in three years by approving nearly 1,200 new settler homes.
But the US, which brokered the negotiations, will not go that far, with state department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf only saying America has "serious concerns".
"We don't accept the legitimacy of continued settlement activity," Ms Harf said.
At the same time, Israel has released the names of 26 Palestinian prisoners who will be freed as part of the deal that saw the resumption of talks.
Direct negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian officials to resolve the longstanding Middle East dispute are due to take place in Jerusalem this week.
The United States is seeking to broker an agreement on a "two-state solution" in which Israel would exist peacefully alongside a new Palestinian state created in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, lands occupied by the Israelis since a 1967 war.
Sensitive time for settlement expansion
The talks are supposed to reach an agreement within nine months, and Washington fears that more settlement-building by its Israeli ally could derail the process.
"These announcements that you're referring to certainly come at a particularly sensitive time," Ms Harf said.
"We continue to engage with the Israeli government to make our serious concerns known."
Secretary of state John Kerry, whose painstaking shuttle diplomacy got the talks restarted in Washington last month, urged the Palestinians "not to react adversely" to Israel's latest plans.
He said that the new settlements announced by Israel "were to some degree expected," and urged Israelis and Palestinians to move ahead with the peace talks.
"What this underscores is the importance of getting to the table, getting to the table quickly" and resolving disputes over settlements and other issues, Mr Kerry said in Bogota.
Palestinian negotiator Mohammed Shtayeh has slammed the latest announcement on new building, saying it was proof Israel was "not serious in the negotiations."
But Israel's housing minister Uri Ariel, has dismissed criticism, declaring: "We shall continue to market apartments and build throughout the country."
UN calls settlements illegal
A spokesman for United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon also re-stated his long-standing opposition to continued settlement building.
"Settlements in the occupied territories are illegal, they have been and they continue to be illegal," Eduardo del Buey said.
Some 500,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem amid 2.5 million Palestinians.
In 2005, Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip, which is now governed by Hamas Islamists opposed to permanent co-existence with the Jewish state.
Peace talks broke down three years ago in a dispute over settlement building.
They resumed in Washington on July 30, with a second round due in Jerusalem on Wednesday and later in the West Bank.
Few expect the latest negotiations to resolve issues that have defied solution for decades, such as borders, settlements, Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees.
ABC/wires
Posted 13 AugAugust 2013TueTuesday 13 AugAugust 2013 at 3:58am
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