Israel's controversial settlement building advances

Israeli Housing Ministry's Jerusalem branch is continuing to work on the controversial construction plan for the area between Ma'aleh Adumim and Jerusalem, local newspaper Haaretz reported Tuesday.

This is contrary to Housing Minister Isaac Herzog's statement that building in the area is not included in the ministry's plan for 2005.

Herzog's aides said the minister was surprised to hear about the construction and has summoned the ministry's Jerusalem branch head to investigate the affair.

In February, the subcommittee for settlements of the civil administration's supervisory council submitted a detailed construction plan for the region of Ma'aleh Adumim. The plan consists of 3,500 housing units.

The subcommittee demanded technical alterations, which are being made by Jerusalem architecture firms Yoram Fogel and Amatzia Aharonson.

Yoram Fogel said last week that work on the plan is proceeding as usual, and that the Housing Ministry staff in the Jerusalem district, who ordered the work, are still asking for its completion.

Jerusalem District head Moshe Merhavia said that as no instructions to the contrary had come from the housing minister, the work was indeed progressing.

The construction in this area of Ma'aleh Adumim has raised an international controversy, as it severs the south of the West Bank from the north and prevents the Palestinian contiguity.

Source: Xinhua