Region | Palestinian Territories
Rice criticises Israel over new report on settlement construction
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says Israeli settlement activity undermining peace efforts in the region.
- Agencies
- Published: 12:07 August 26, 2008
- Rice is on a visit to the Middle East to further peace efforts between Israel and Palestine.
- Image Credit: AP
Occupied Jerusalem: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice criticised Israeli authorities for undermining peace efforts in the region, following a report that said construction in Jewish settlements had nearly doubled.
Citing information from Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics, the Israeli group Peace Now released an eight-page report on Tuesday, which said that construction on more than 1,000 buildings in the West Bank had begun since January, more than double the number the year before.
Speaking at a news conference while in Israel as part of her Middle East visit, Rice repeated her criticism of the settlements.
“I think it's no secret, and I have said it to my Israeli counterparts, that I don't think that settlement activity is helpful," Rice said.
"In fact, what we need now are steps that enhance confidence between the parties and anything that undermines confidence between the parties ought to be avoided," she said.
The report said the number of tenders published for future construction in settlements rose in the first six months of the year by 550 per cent from the same period in 2007 to 417 housing units.
More than half of the construction took place in areas beyond the intended settlement blocs, adding that it undermines peace negotiations by "creating facts on the ground that might prevent the possibility of an agreement".
An additional 125 new structures, including trailers, had been built or placed at settlement outposts Israel's government says it never authorised, the group said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, also at the news conference, said Israeli settlement activity had been reduced "in the most dramatic way", especially in areas east of the barrier Israel is constructing in the West Bank.
"The peace process is not, and should not be, affected by any kind of settlement activities," Livni said.
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