Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed on Monday ahead of a United States-sponsored peace meeting that Israel would freeze construction of new settlements and dismantle unauthorised ones in the occupied West Bank.
”We have committed ourselves under the road map not to build new settlements in the West Bank and we will not build any,” a senior government official quoted Olmert as telling a Cabinet meeting.
”We have committed not to expropriate land and we will not expropriate any. We have committed ourselves to dismantling illegal outposts and we will remove them.”
Under the so-called road map for Middle East peace, which has made next to no progress since its launching in 2003, Israel undertook to freeze settlement construction and expansion in the occupied West Bank.
Despite the commitment, the Jewish state has continued to expand existing settlements and has turned a blind eye to dozens of wildcat outposts — settlements not approved by the Israeli government — that have sprung up throughout the territory.
”We cannot repeat time and again that the road map is a strategic asset to Israel and [at the same time] continue to ignore our commitments,” Olmert said. ”We will have to carry out these commitments.”
Olmert’s statements appeared to fall short of a complete freeze to settlements — including the expansion of existing ones — which the Palestinians have demanded ahead of the peace conference expected to take place in Annapolis, Maryland next week.
Under international law, all Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory are considered illegal. — AFP
