JERUSALEM  - The city of Jerusalem is seeking to expand the settlement of Gilo beyond Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem with 2,500 new homes in the adjacent West Bank, an Israeli lawyer said on Friday.
Daniel Seiderman, a lawyer active in the anti-settlement movement, told AFP that the idea was endorsed at a city planning meeting last month. "Ten days ago the municipal planning board deliberated on a plan to build another 2,500 units in Gilo," he said. "The precise area is beyond the municipal... line of Gilo."
He said the intended enlargement would be in addition to plans formally announced last month for 2,000 new homes in Gilo, which lies just a few kilometres (miles) north of Bethlehem. City councillor Meir Margelit confirmed the broad outline of the intended scheme but not the number. "It's correct that the local committee approved building in Gilo. I don't remember how many units," he told AFP.
"The planning committee approved (building) between Gilo and (the West bank town of) Beit Jala. I suspected that it's beyond the Gilo blue line but I couldn't check it completely."
Both men agreed the project could take a long time to reach fruition. "If everything goes smoothly it's a matter of three years at least, " Margelit said. "If you're talking about... pregnancy, this isn't conception, just a glint in the eye," said Seiderman.
Meanwhile, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on Friday condemned Israel's new surge in settlement building, calling on the government to demonstrate its commitment to peace by reversing the decision. "I deplore Israeli government plans to build over 800 additional settlement housing units," Ashton said in a statement. "Settlements activity is detrimental to current peace efforts," she said.
"I call on the Israeli government to exercise the highest sense of responsibility by reversing these decisions to demonstrate its commitment toward the peace process, in full respect of international law."