New Israeli settlement plans unveiled on eve of peace talks

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What is the fucking point of these peace talks? Israel has already indicated their intentions. They will expand their footprint in the occupied territories regardless.

I think this is what could be described as negotiating in bad faith.

Israel plans to enlarge two settlements in occupied Palestinian territory next year, officials said on Sunday, casting yet another shadow over revived Middle East peace talks.

On the eve of a new round of negotiations, Israel and Hamas ruled out any truce talks to stop what Prime Minister Ehud Olmert described as a "real war" between militants and the army in the Islamist-ruled Gaza Strip.

Israel has set aside 25 million dollars in the 2008 budget to expand the Maale Adumim settlement in the occupied West Bank and in the Har Homa settlement in annexed east Jerusalem, anti-settlement group Peace Now's head Yariv Oppenheimer told AFP.

Israel's Pensioner Affairs Minister Rafi Eitan confirmed the report.

About 250 new housing units are to be constructed in Maale Adumim and 500 in Har Homa, known to Palestinians as Jebel Abu Ghneim, Peace Now said.

Via Yahoo! News.