Israel issues plan for new West Bank settlement amid regional tensions

Israel has published plans for one of its proposed new settlements in the occupied West Bank, finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Wednesday, upping the ante a day before planned new Gaza peace talks seen as vital to preventing a regional war.

The far-right minister said the move was a response to actions by the Palestinian West Bank leadership and countries which have recognized a Palestinian state.

Most United Nations member states consider settlements built in the West Bank and other territory Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war to be illegal under international law. Israel disputes this, citing the Jewish people's historical and biblical ties to the land.

Israel announced in June it was going to legalize five outposts in the West Bank, establish three new settlements, and seize huge swathes of land where Palestinians seek to create an independent state, further inflaming Palestinian anger.

The Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited authority over the West Bank under Israeli military occupation, reiterated that settlement construction and the demolition of Palestinian homes constituted ethnic cleansing, an allegation Israel has denied.

The new 60 hectare settlement called Nachal Heletz will form part of the Gush Etzion settlement cluster and connect the region with nearby Jerusalem, said Smotrich, who heads a pro-settler party and who himself is a settler.

Peace Now, an Israeli NGO, said: "Smotrich continues to promote de facto annexation, disregarding the UNESCO Convention that Israel is a signatory to, and we will all pay the price."

Reuters