Israel okays more colonies as world watches Iran

Occupied Jerusalem: The Israeli defence ministry says plans to build over 800 new housing units in the West Bank are moving forward.

The ministry said on Monday it had approved a planning stage for the housing earlier this month. The approval is an initial step in a protracted bureaucratic process and construction is not expected to begin for months.

It comes following Sunday’s agreement between Iran and world powers to curb Iran’s nuclear capabilities, which has dominated global news headlines since. The Israelis have condemned the agreement as a “historic mistake”. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has over the past few months been putting pressure on the US not to enter such a deal with its arch-enemy Iran.

The housing plans were originally announced last month, following Israel’s release of 26 Palestinian prisoners. That move was part of a deal that brought the two sides back to negotiations.

“The construction of 829 homes has been approved by a committee of the Israeli military in charge of the West Bank,” said Lior Amihai, an official at colony watchdog Peace Now.

“This is yet another move that threatens to derail the peace process,” Amihai said.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has warned that ongoing colony building by Israel in the Palestinian territories threatens the future of Middle East peace talks, which stand at an impasse little more than three months after they began.

The new homes would be built north of Occupied Jerusalem in the colonies of Givat Zeev, Nofei Prat, Shilo, Givat Salit and Nokdim, Amihai said.

The latest move comes two weeks after Israel announced its largest plan for settler homes ever, saying some 20,000 would be built in the West Bank.

Netanyahu cancelled the order after pressure from the US, which brought the two sides to the table in July and as the Israeli premier sought to dissuade Washington from striking a nuclear deal with Iran.

That announcement had prompted the entire Palestinian negotiating team to resign in protest — resignations which Abbas has yet to accept.

Abbas said last week his side is committed to the full period of talks agreed with Washington that will end in around April.

But if the talks end with no deal, the Palestinians have said they will pursue legal action against illegal Israel’s illegal building through international courts.

Commentators say the Palestinians will not back out of talks before their end date, as this would signal implicit responsibility for their failure.