Israel plans 3,000 homes in W.Bank settlement-report

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel plans to build 3,000 more
homes in Ariel, a major Jewish settlement in the West Bank,
Israeli media reports quoted Deputy Defense Minister Zeev Boim
as saying on Monday.

A Defense Ministry spokeswoman had no immediate comment.

The YNet and Walla Web sites, reporting on a visit by Boim
to Ariel, said he announced that Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz
had approved the construction of 3,000 housing units in the
settlement, where some 18,000 Israelis live.

“While on one hand we are carrying a disengagement (from
the Gaza Strip), we have to strengthen our hold on (West Bank)
settlement blocs,” YNet quoted Boim as saying.

The reports did not say when construction would begin in
Ariel, a settlement built deep inside occupied territory
Palestinians want for a state.

A U.S.-backed peace “road map” calls for a halt to Israeli
settlement expansion, but Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has said
more housing must be built for settlers in the West Bank to
accommodate the natural population growth.

Israel completed the evacuation of all 21 Jewish
settlements in the Gaza Strip and four of 120 in the West Bank
on August 23 under Sharon’s plan to disengage from conflict
with the Palestinians.

Palestinians, while welcoming the Gaza pullout, have noted
Sharon’s pledge to hold on to major West Bank settlement blocs
in any future peace deal.