Israel Revises 10 Month Settlement Freeze in West Bank

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115676&sectionid=351020202



Israel has authorized settlement municipalities to issue building permits in the occupied West Bank in defiance to a ten-month moratorium imposed on the settlements.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak authorized settlement municipalities to issue permits for the renovation of existing structures and for public infrastructure work, Haaretz reported Friday.

Last November Israeli Primer Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a 10-month freeze in settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem Al-Quds.

The order revoked the authority of 24 local municipalities to issue building permits, causing outrage among settlers and hardliners.

Barak issued the "revised" version of the moratorium in a bid to ease tension among Jewish settlers in the West Bank.

He also authorized the municipalities to begin settlement work after the freeze expires.

Netanyahu had formerly announced that the 10-month moratorium was only a "one-time, temporary" move and that the settlement construction will resume after the freeze.

Tel Aviv has so far rejected international demands for a permanent halt to illegal settlement construction — a key issue in efforts to restart Middle East peace talks with the Palestinians.

The settlement construction on occupied Palestinian land is in violation of the United Nations Security Council Resolutions 446, 452 and 465.