Israel disputes report of plan to expand settlement

JERUSALEM -- The Israeli government plans to build thousands of homes at the edge of a major West Bank settlement outside Jerusalem, according to a local media report yesterday, an expansion that would bridge the two cities but run afoul of the US-backed ''road map" to peace.

Israeli officials disputed the report. A spokesman for Israel's Housing Ministry said the plan was at least 10 years old and that the government was not acting to build houses in the immediate future.

The Maariv newspaper reported that the government put the land -- a 3,750-acre parcel between Jerusalem and the Jewish settlement of Maaleh Adumim -- under state ownership several months ago, making it eligible for construction. The newspaper said the Housing Ministry, which oversees settlement development, quietly had begun preparing the site for construction by building the first roads and planning sewers and sidewalks.

The US government opposes new settlement construction. Under the stalled peace plan, Israel is to freeze settlement activity and tear down all settlement offshoots, known as outposts, erected since March 2001.

This week, the US State Department reiterated its opposition to settlement expansion after reports that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had approved construction of 600 homes in Maaleh Adumim, a suburban city of about 30,000 that is the largest settlement in the West Bank. Israeli officials said that plan was not new and that most of the homes had already been built.

In response to yesterday's report, a Housing Ministry spokesman said plans for new homes that would fill the gap between Maaleh Adumim and Jerusalem had existed since the early 1990s. He said Israel had no immediate plans to build houses there -- which would first require government approval of detailed plans.

''These are only general plans, not operative ones," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. He said road building and other work under way there were for Maaleh Adumim itself.

But Maale Adumim Mayor Benny Kashriel told Maariv, ''Within six months, planning work in the Housing Ministry will be completed, and then it will be possible to submit a town plan for the defense minister's approval."

Settlement expansion was on the agenda yesterday as Elliott Abrams, a senior US envoy, met here with Palestinian and Israeli officials. The Bush administration has made clear its dissatisfaction over Israel's slow progress in removing illegal outposts, which many say are an impediment to peace with the Palestinians.

''It's an issue that we're watching closely and paying attention to," said Paul Patin, spokesman for the US Embassy in Tel Aviv.

Sharon told Abrams there were no plans for new housing between Jerusalem and Maaleh Adumim, according to Israeli media reports.

Palestinian leaders say expanding West Bank settlements hurts chances for negotiating a peace deal by carving up land on which the Palestinians hope to form an independent state.

In other developments, Palestinian residents in the Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun returned to homes many had fled during a five-week Israeli military offensive. Israeli soldiers pulled out yesterday morning in what the military called a redeployment of forces.