Jerusalem // Palestinian officials and the United Nations on Friday condemned the Israeli government’s approval of a new settlement in the occupied West Bank for the first time in more than 25 years.
Israel’s security cabinet gave its unanimous backing to the settlement on Thursday, as what is widely seen as the most right-wing government in Israeli history presses ahead with settlement expansion in defiance of international concern.
Senior Palestinian official Hanan Ashrawi said the move showed the government was pushing ahead with “their systematic policies of settler colonialism, apartheid and ethnic cleansing, showing a total and blatant disregard for Palestinian human rights”.
“Israel is more committed to appeasing its illegal settler population than to abiding by the requirements for stability and a just peace,” she said.
Yusuf Mahmoud, spokesman for the Palestinian government in the West Bank, said: “This is a new escalating Israeli step and it shows that the Israeli government is persistent on hindering any efforts to restore the peace process.”
UN chief Antonio Guterres expressed “disappointment and alarm” at the announcement.
“The secretary general has consistently stressed that there is no Plan B for Israelis and Palestinians to live together in peace and security. He condemns all unilateral actions that, like the present one, threaten peace and undermine the two-state solution,” his spokesman said. The new settlement will be constructed north of the former wildcat outpost known as Amona, which was razed in February on the orders of the Israeli high court as it was built on private Palestinian land.
Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had promised to build another settlement for its residents after their eviction.
“I promised to create a new community and we are going to respect that commitment and create it today,” he said before Thursday’s security cabinet meeting.
It will be the first entirely new settlement that an Israeli government has approved since 1991, the anti-settlement group Peace Now said.
In recent years, construction had focused instead on expanding settlements.
Peace Now said the location was “strategic for the fragmentation of the West Bank”, which Palestinians see as the bulk of their future state.
“Netanyahu is held captive by the settlers, and chooses his political survival over the interest of the state of Israel,” Peace Now said, adding it was pushing Israelis and Palestinians closer to “apartheid”.
The international community regards all Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories as illegal and a major obstacle to Middle East peace.
Israel draws a distinction between those it sanctions and those it does not – so-called outposts.
The cabinet also invited tenders for nearly 2,000 more homes in existing settlements and discussed retroactively legalising three outposts, Peace Now said.
Ronen Bergman, senior correspondent for Israel’s Yediot Aharonot newspaper, said Mr Netanyahu, who has faced corruption allegations, had been dragged further right to keep his government together.
The far-right pro-settlement Jewish Home party, part of Mr Netanyahu’s coalition, often dictates the government’s agenda, he said.
Mr Netanyahu “is not calling the agenda, he is chasing the agenda”, Mr Bergman said.
The former US administration of Barack Obama was deeply opposed to Israel’s expansion of the settlements and, in December, withheld its veto from a UN Security Council resolution condemning the policy.
But since Donald Trump took office in January, settler leaders have been emboldened by his far less critical stance, and Israel has since announced more than 5,500 new homes in existing settlements.
Mr Netanyahu has been in discussions with the Trump administration on how to move ahead with construction.
Mr Trump has pledged unstinting support for Israel but has also urged Mr Netanyahu to “hold back on settlements for a little bit” while his administration looks for ways to restart Israeli-Palestinian talks.
His envoy Jason Greenblatt has made two visits to the region, meeting Israelis and Palestinians and attending an Arab summit in Jordan this week.
Mr Greenblatt has been working with the Israelis on a series of understandings over settlement construction in hopes of restarting peace talks that collapsed more than two years ago – in part over the thorny issue of settlements.
A senior Palestinian official said Palestinian policy now was to maintain relations and avoid confrontation over the issue with the Trump administration before president Mahmoud Abbas visits the White House in April.
The White House refrained from criticising the new settlement, but warned that further expansion could undermine peace efforts.
“While the existence of settlements is not in itself an impediment to peace, further unrestrained settlement activity does not help advance peace,” a White House official said.
“Going forward ... the Israeli government has made clear that Israel’s intent is to adopt a policy regarding settlement activity that takes President Trump’s concerns into consideration.”
* Agence France-Presse with additional reporting from Associated Press
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
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The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Etihad (etihad.com) flies from Abu Dhabi to Mykonos, with a flight change to its partner airline Olympic Air in Athens. Return flights cost from Dh4,105 per person, including taxes.
Where to stay
The modern-art-filled Ambassador hotel (myconianambassador.gr) is 15 minutes outside Mykonos Town on a hillside 500 metres from the Platis Gialos Beach, with a bus into town every 30 minutes (a taxi costs €15 [Dh66]). The Nammos and Scorpios beach clubs are a 10- to 20-minute walk (or water-taxi ride) away. All 70 rooms have a large balcony, many with a Jacuzzi, and of the 15 suites, five have a plunge pool. There’s also a private eight-bedroom villa. Double rooms cost from €240 (Dh1,063) including breakfast, out of season, and from €595 (Dh2,636) in July/August.
How to donate
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
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Race card:
6.30pm: Baniyas (PA) Group 2 Dh195,000 1,400m.
7.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 1,400m.
7.40pm: Handicap (TB) Dh190,000 1,200m.
8.15pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 1,200m.
8.50pm: Rated Conditions (TB) Dh240,000 1,600m.
9.20pm: Handicap (TB) Dh165,000 1,400m.
10pm: Handicap (TB) Dh175,000 2,000m.
Ads on social media can 'normalise' drugs
A UK report on youth social media habits commissioned by advocacy group Volteface found a quarter of young people were exposed to illegal drug dealers on social media.
The poll of 2,006 people aged 16-24 assessed their exposure to drug dealers online in a nationally representative survey.
Of those admitting to seeing drugs for sale online, 56 per cent saw them advertised on Snapchat, 55 per cent on Instagram and 47 per cent on Facebook.
Cannabis was the drug most pushed by online dealers, with 63 per cent of survey respondents claiming to have seen adverts on social media for the drug, followed by cocaine (26 per cent) and MDMA/ecstasy, with 24 per cent of people.
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
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HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX RESULT
1. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari 1:39:46.713
2. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari 00:00.908
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes-GP 00:12.462
4. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-GP 00:12.885
5. Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing 00:13.276
6. Fernando Alonso, McLaren 01:11.223
7. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso 1 lap
8. Sergio Perez, Force India 1 lap
9. Esteban Ocon, Force India 1 lap
10. Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren 1 lap
11. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso 1 lap
12. Jolyon Palmer, Renault 1 lap
13. Kevin Magnussen, Haas 1 lap
14. Lance Stroll, Williams 1 lap
15. Pascal Wehrlein, Sauber 2 laps
16. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber 2 laps
17r. Nico Huelkenberg, Renault 3 laps
r. Paul Di Resta, Williams 10 laps
r. Romain Grosjean, Haas 50 laps
r. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing 70 laps
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
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