Israel announces hundreds more West Bank houses

Israel will begin building another 533 housing units in the West Bank next year, an official said today, the latest indication that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is working to strengthen West Bank settlements while pushing ahead with a Gaza pullout plan.

Israel will begin building another 533 housing units in the West Bank next year, an official said today, the latest indication that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is working to strengthen West Bank settlements while pushing ahead with a Gaza pullout plan.

The announcement came on the heels of an apparent shift in US policy regarding West Bank construction. Washington indicated over the weekend that it backs the expansion of large West Bank settlements Israel wants to hold onto under a final peace deal.

In the past month, Israel has announced plans to build hundreds of other housing units in some of its largest West Bank settlements.

Mr Sharon has made clear he plans to strengthen large West Bank settlement blocs while pushing to withdraw from all Gaza Strip enclaves.

President George Bush strongly supports the Gaza pullout plan, and expressed an initial shift in US settlement policy when he said that a final peace deal would have to take into account large West Bank settlements.

The Israel Lands Authority - responsible for some West Bank lands - has decided that contractors will be allowed to begin building the 533 units next year, said Ortal Tzabar, a spokeswoman for the authority.

The contractors will have three years to complete the construction, she added.

The Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot reported today that 200 units would be built in Har Gilo, 101 houses in Har Adar, another 134 in Adam and 98 in Emmanuel.

Tzabar could not immediately confirm the numbers and locations.