Jerusalem.- Israel’s government has approved plans to build nearly 5,300 new homes in settlements in the occupied West Bank, a watchdog group said Thursday, the latest move in a campaign to accelerate settlement expansion aimed at cementing Israel’s control over the territory and preventing the establishment of a future Palestinian state.
News of the decision came after an Israeli official said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had decided to send negotiators to resume ceasefire talks in the Gaza Strip. A day earlier, the Palestinian militant group Hamas handed mediators its response to a U.S.-backed deal proposal.
Diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the nine-month war in Gaza appear to be coming back to life after a hiatus of several weeks.
Meanwhile, fighting has intensified between Israel and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah. The Lebanese group said on Thursday it had launched more than 200 rockets and explosive drones into northern Israel to avenge the death of a senior commander in an Israeli airstrike the day before.
The relatively low-level conflict has literally set the border alight and raised fears of an even more devastating war in the Middle East. Hezbollah has said it will halt its attacks if there is a ceasefire between Hamas — another Iranian-backed group — and Israel.
Israel’s anti-settlement watchdog Peace Nor (Peace Now) said the government’s Higher Planning Council had approved or advanced plans for 5,295 homes in dozens of settlements across the West Bank.
COGAT, the Israeli defense body that oversees the Planning Council, referred questions to Netanyahu’s office, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Netanyahu’s government is dominated by settlers and their supporters. Finance Minister Bazalel Smotrich, a hardline nationalist and also a settler, has been appointed to be responsible for settlement policy. On Wednesday, Peace Now claimed that Israel had approved the largest land confiscation in the West Bank in more than three decades.
The accelerated settlement campaign threatens to further fuel tensions in the West Bank, which has seen an increase in violence since the Gaza war began on October 7.
The Palestinians want the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza — areas captured by Israel in the 1967 war — for an independent state. It could also upset Israel’s ally, the United States, which speaks out against settlements but has done little to pressure Israel on the issue.
The United States has enlisted global support for a phased ceasefire plan that calls for the release of all Hamas-held hostages in exchange for a lasting truce and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
But so far, neither side appears to have fully adopted it. Last month, Hamas suggested “amendments” to the proposal, some of which the US said were unworkable, without providing concrete details.
For his part, Netanyahu has given contradictory positions: he confirmed that the original proposal was Israeli, but he has also said that he would only accept a partial agreement, after which Israel would return to its military campaign to destroy Hamas.
Netanyahu spoke with U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday to discuss his decision to send a delegation to continue negotiations, Netanyahu’s office said. He also told Biden that Israel is committed “to ending the war only after achieving all its objectives,” referring to the war’s twin goals of rescuing hostages and destroying Hamas.
Hamas confirmed Wednesday that it had sent another response to Egypt and Qatar, which are mediating the talks, without giving further details. A U.S. official said the Biden administration was studying the response, which he described as constructive, though he said more work remained to be done. The official, who was not authorized to comment, spoke on condition of anonymity.
An Israeli official said Netanyahu had decided to send a team to open new negotiations. The official, who was not authorized to discuss the meeting with the media, spoke on condition of anonymity. It was not immediately clear when or where the team would go to negotiate.
Meanwhile, the Gaza Health Ministry said the number of Palestinians killed by Israel’s Gaza offensive had surpassed 38,000. The ministry does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
Bassem Naim, a Hamas political official, said the group has neither accepted nor rejected the U.S. proposal and has “responded with some ideas to bridge the gap” between the two sides, without elaborating. Ismail Haniyeh, the group’s political leader, has shared his suggestions with Egyptian, Qatari and Turkish officials, according to a statement from the group issued late Wednesday.
U.S. officials have said the new proposal contains new terms proposed by Egypt and Qatar on Saturday that refer to negotiations that would begin during the first of three phases outlined by U.S. President Joe Biden in a speech on May 31.
The first phase envisages a “full and complete ceasefire”, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from all densely populated areas of Gaza and the release of a number of hostages, including women, the elderly and the wounded, in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
The proposal called for the parties to negotiate the terms of the second phase during the 42-day initial phase. Under the current proposal, Hamas would be allowed to release all of the men it is still holding, both civilians and soldiers, during the second phase. In exchange, Israel would be allowed to release an agreed number of Palestinian prisoners and detainees. The releases would not occur until a “sustainable calm” is established and all Israeli troops withdraw from Gaza. The third phase would see the return of the remains of deceased hostages.
The transition from the first to the second phase seems to be the main sticking point.
Hamas is concerned that Israel could resume the war after the first phase, perhaps after making unrealistic demands in the talks.
Israeli officials have expressed a desire for the negotiations to lead to the removal of Hamas from power in Gaza, a provision not included in the proposal. They have also pushed for a time limit on the negotiations to maintain pressure on Hamas and prevent it from prolonging the talks and the initial ceasefire.
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