(Ha'aretz/Central Bureau of Statistics) Nathan Guttman - Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Thursday the U.S. has "concerns" about settlement activities after Israel unveiled plans to build more homes in West Bank settlements. Powell's relatively mild comments reflected Washington's unhappiness with Israel's continued settlement building in the West Bank but its reluctance to criticize an ally in public. Israel issued tenders this week for the 600 new housing units near Jerusalem - 530 in Betar Illit (pop. 20,200) and 50 in Ma'aleh Adumim (26,500) - and 24 more in Ariel (16,300), and 100 new units in Efrat (6,800).
2003-10-03 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive