Israel doubles building settler units in West Bank
Iran Press TV
Mon Mar 3, 2014 9:42PM GMT
Israel began building over twice as many settlement units in the occupied West Bank in 2013 than it did the previous year.
According to the data released by Israel's central bureau of statistics on Monday, the Tel Aviv regime began to work on 2,534 settlement units in the year 2103, compared to 1,133 in 2012.
Earlier on Monday, Washington slammed Tel Aviv's settlement activities.
US President Barack Obama warned Israel against "international fallout" if direct talks with the Palestinian Authority fail and Tel Aviv continues its illegal settlement expansion in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Obama, who made the remarks prior to his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the same day, said that Washington's ability to protect its staunch ally from being isolated in the world would be "limited" if Tel Aviv continues expanding its illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Palestinian and Israeli negotiators began a fresh round of talks in July 2013. Since the resumption of the direct talks, Palestinians have objected to a number of issues including the illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem).
The last round of Israeli-Palestinian talks broke down in 2010 after the Tel Aviv regime refused to halt its settlement construction.
Israel's settlement expansion policy in the West Bank has created a major obstacle to the progress of the talks.
More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 illegal settlements built since Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds in 1967.
The settlements are illegal under the Geneva Conventions, which forbid construction on occupied land.
IA/AS/MAM
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