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By Reem Qadan

JERUSALEM, January 10, 2012 (WAFA) – Construction in Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian Territory increased by 20% in 2011, said a new report by the Israeli Peace Now movement released on Tuesday.

The Palestinian Authority warned that what came in the report should send alarm bells to the international community about the impact of Israeli settlement activities on efforts to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Palestinian government spokesman Ghassan Khatib described what was revealed by the Peace Now report as “dangerous.”

“This is very dangerous and it should send alarm bells to the international community that this Israeli policy will certainly end chances for establishing a Palestinian state and terminate the two-state solution,” Khatib told WAFA.

According to the report titled “Torpedoing the Two State Solution: Summary of 2011 in the Settlement,” settlement expansion included building at least 1,850 building starts, 35% of them in isolated settlements east of the Apartheid Wall Israel is building on West Bank land.

In addition, said the report, the Israeli government plans to legalize 11 settlement outposts that house around 2,300 settlers in 680 structures in the West Bank, which were built without its consent and were an issue of contention between the government and settlers.

According to the report, the Israeli government is delaying evacuation of three settlement outposts built on private Palestinian land without government approval and has announced plans to legalize hundreds of units of unauthorized construction in the settlements, which included 119 housing units in Shilo, 86 housing units in Kiryat Netafim, 27 units in Halamish, and additional hundreds in Nofim, Hemdat, Rotem and Sansana settlements.

As for Israeli construction in East Jerusalem, the report said that the number of plans and new settlements in East Jerusalem in 2011 was the highest in a decade, including government approval of 3,690 housing units and plans to build another 2,660 units in various settlements in and around the occupied city.

The Israeli government gave final validation to 983 new units in Har Homa settlement, south of Jerusalem, and nearby Givat Hamatos with over 2,000 units in the first stage. In addition, at least 823 construction permits were issued by the West Jerusalem Municipality for housing in the settlements.

Peace Now said that the settlements at the heart of the Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem reached a new level in 2011 with the beginning of the construction of new housing complexes for 55 families, which included 18 units in Al-Suwaneh on the Mount of Olive, 20 units in Sheikh Jarrah where the Shepherd Hotel was located, and 17 units in Ras El-Amoud at the location of the former police station.

Furthermore, construction of stage two of the Maale Zeitim settlement in Ras al-Amoud was completed with 60 housing units, some of which have already been populated.

“The Netanyahu government is promoting several plans precisely in disputed areas which could prevent the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel,” said the report.

R.Q./M.S.