Israel’s Ministry of Housing and Construction issued a tender Thursday September 4, for 102 new housing units in the Jewish settlement of Efrat in the West Bank, reported Army Radio.
According to the American-brokered Road Map peace plan signed this past June, Israel was to freeze settlement-growth and evacuate unauthorized outposts while the Palestinian Authority was to crack down on terror.
Shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon promised US President George W. Bush in July that the government would dismantle unauthorized settlement outposts in the West Bank, a tender was issued for an additional 22 housing units for Jewish settlers in the Gaza Strip.
The number of Jewish settlers in the West Bank and Gaza continues to grow at a rate almost three times Israel’s national rate, according to the Foundation for Middle East Peace in Washington. Settlements in the West Bank currently have a population of over 220,000 people, slightly higher than the number of Israelis residing in East Jerusalem. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
