Settlements expand as PA, Israel talk

Israeli settlements construction has continued despite Palestinian Authority officials’ engagement in talks with Israelis, the head of the Palestinian National Initiative says.

Israeli settlers have illegally annexed 130 square kilometers of land in Qaryout, a village south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus, Ma’an news agency reported Mustafa Barghouthi as saying on Saturday.

The Palestinian lawmaker further added that construction material has been brought in to start building some 3,000 new units throughout the settlement bloc.

According to Barghouthi, some 603 settlement units were built during Israel’s 10-month partial settlement freeze, which is due to expire on September 26.

The report comes two days after acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in Washington to resume direct negotiations 20 months after the talks ran aground in the wake of Israel’s December 2008-January 2009 war against the Gaza Strip, which claimed the lives of at least 1,400 Palestinians.

Several Israeli ministers have vowed to resume construction once the freeze expires, with settlement council leaders calling on Israeli settlers to prepare for accelerated construction.

Palestinians have mostly voiced opposition against the US-sponsored talks between the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority and Tel Aviv, saying the negotiations would only embolden the Israeli occupation.

They accuse Ramallah of “yielding to US and Israeli pressure” and fear that the talks might end up with Tel Aviv winning even more concessions at the end of the day.