RAMALLAH //Israel was accused yesterday of destroying new Palestinian peace talks before they begin with plans to build 1,200 more settler homes on occupied land.
The settler announcement overshadowed the expected release tomorrow of 26 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
It was also a calculated snub to the US secretary of state John Kerry, who brokered talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders expected to resume in Jerusalem on Wednesday.
"No country in the world takes orders from other countries about where it can and cannot build," the Israeli housing minister Uri Ariel said.
Jewish settlements are a major obstacle to the creation of a Palestinian state. The last round of peace talks in 2010 collapsed because the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, refused to stop building them.
Israel is trying to "destroy the negotiations before they start and destroy the principle of the two-state solution", the chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said.
His deputy, Mohammed Shtayeh, accused Israel using "peace negotiations as a smoke screen for more settlement construction".
Mr Erekat stopped short of threatening to boycott Wednesday's meeting but the new settlement plans infuriated other Palestinians, including Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority and chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation.
"The leadership, including Abbas, are extremely angry," a PLO official said. He said news of the settler expansion plans broke just after the Palestinian leader met Washington's special envoy to the peace talks, Martin Indyk, in his Ramallah compound.
"I don't think Indyk had any idea that Israel was going to announce this," the official said.
More than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, which along with the Gaza Strip were captured by Israel during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
Their presence on land wanted for a future Palestinian state, and the basis on which its borders would be decided, were among the hurdles to resuming the peace talks, in which israel is being represented by its justice minister, Tzipi Livni, and Isaac Molcho, a confidant of Mr Netanyahu.
Officials on both sides held preliminary discussions last month with Mr Kerry in Washington, at which they agreed to nine months of talks for concluding a peace deal.
The secretary of state has vested considerable amounts of American effort and prestige in resuming peace talks, having visiting the region six times since the beginning of the year to cajole Israeli and Palestinian officials back to talks.
Part of the inducements he offered for a Palestinian return to negotiations was persuading Israel to release from jail 104 Palestinians who have been held since before the 1993 Oslo peace accords. The first of the four phases of that release is scheduled for tomorrow, and the Israeli cabinet met yesterday to select the first 26 prisoners to hand over to the Palestinians.
To accommodate Mr Netanyahu and his pro-settlement government, Mr Kerry appears to have successfully persuaded Mr Abbas to drop his key demand - a halt to settler construction.
He also appears to have persuaded the Palestinian leader to drop his other demand - that Israel use as a basis for negotiations the borders that existed before the 1967 war.
hnaylor@thenational.ae
* Additional reporting by Bloomberg News and Reuters
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How to report a beggar
Abu Dhabi – Call 999 or 8002626 (Aman Service)
Dubai – Call 800243
Sharjah – Call 065632222
Ras Al Khaimah - Call 072053372
Ajman – Call 067401616
Umm Al Quwain – Call 999
Fujairah - Call 092051100 or 092224411
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The bio:
Favourite film:
Declan: It was The Commitments but now it’s Bohemian Rhapsody.
Heidi: The Long Kiss Goodnight.
Favourite holiday destination:
Declan: Las Vegas but I also love getting home to Ireland and seeing everyone back home.
Heidi: Australia but my dream destination would be to go to Cuba.
Favourite pastime:
Declan: I love brunching and socializing. Just basically having the craic.
Heidi: Paddleboarding and swimming.
Personal motto:
Declan: Take chances.
Heidi: Live, love, laugh and have no regrets.
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The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
MATCH INFO
Who: UAE v USA
What: first T20 international
When: Friday, 2pm
Where: ICC Academy in Dubai
Boulder shooting victims
• Denny Strong, 20
• Neven Stanisic, 23
• Rikki Olds, 25
• Tralona Bartkowiak, 49
• Suzanne Fountain, 59
• Teri Leiker, 51
• Eric Talley, 51
• Kevin Mahoney, 61
• Lynn Murray, 62
• Jody Waters, 65
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
Bundesliga fixtures
Saturday, May 16 (kick-offs UAE time)
Borussia Dortmund v Schalke (4.30pm)
RB Leipzig v Freiburg (4.30pm)
Hoffenheim v Hertha Berlin (4.30pm)
Fortuna Dusseldorf v Paderborn (4.30pm)
Augsburg v Wolfsburg (4.30pm)
Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Monchengladbach (7.30pm)
Sunday, May 17
Cologne v Mainz (4.30pm),
Union Berlin v Bayern Munich (7pm)
Monday, May 18
Werder Bremen v Bayer Leverkusen (9.30pm)
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, second leg:
Liverpool (0) v Barcelona (3), Tuesday, 11pm UAE
Game is on BeIN Sports
Intercontinental Cup
Namibia v UAE Saturday Sep 16-Tuesday Sep 19
Table 1 Ireland, 89 points; 2 Afghanistan, 81; 3 Netherlands, 52; 4 Papua New Guinea, 40; 5 Hong Kong, 39; 6 Scotland, 37; 7 UAE, 27; 8 Namibia, 27
Stormy seas
Weather warnings show that Storm Eunice is soon to make landfall. The videographer and I are scrambling to return to the other side of the Channel before it does. As we race to the port of Calais, I see miles of wire fencing topped with barbed wire all around it, a silent ‘Keep Out’ sign for those who, unlike us, aren’t lucky enough to have the right to move freely and safely across borders.
We set sail on a giant ferry whose length dwarfs the dinghies migrants use by nearly a 100 times. Despite the windy rain lashing at the portholes, we arrive safely in Dover; grateful but acutely aware of the miserable conditions the people we’ve left behind are in and of the privilege of choice.
Match info
Liverpool 3
Hoedt (10' og), Matip (21'), Salah (45 3')
Southampton 0