8/2/2004 2:00:00 PM GMT
Source: AFP
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz gave the green- light to begin the construction of 600 new buildings in the West Bank settlements, the defense ministry said.
"Mr Sharon and Mr Mofaz have given their go-ahead to the construction of these buildings" in Maale Adumim, a ministry spokesman told AFP.
Maale Adumim, placed close to Jerusalem on the road to Jericho, is home to 28,000 Jewish residents.
The new buildings are expected to house some 2,000 Israelis which would represent a seven percent rise in the settlement's population.
The road map plan states that Israel is obliged to freez all settlement activity in the occupied territories where around 245,000 Israelis live.
According to the Maariv newspaper, the housing ministry had received orders not to publish public tenders to avoid upsetting the Americans who are one of the four sponsors of the roadmap.
Under the terms of plan, all Israeli settlers will have to pull out of the Gaza Strip and four small Jewish enclaves in the northern West Bank by next year.
However the plan also envisages the de-facto annexation of large settlements such as Maale Adumim.
The roadmap has made next to no progress since it was formally approved by both the Israelis and Palestinians in June last year amid mutual accusations that its terms have been violated.