Palestinians Want Halt To Israeli Expansion

Frustrated at the bargaining table, the Palestinians appealed to the Security Council on Tuesday to pressure Israel to stop expanding its settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Council members criticized the settlements as an obstacle to making peace, but took no action on a proposed resolution demanding that Israel stop building new homes in the settlements.

“Debate here can only sour the atmosphere, and make it more difficult for the parties to reach an agreement,” said Edward Gnehm, the deputy U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Israel last year gave the Palestinians limited autonomy in Gaza and the West Bank city of Jericho, which were seized with the rest of the West Bank in the 1967 ArabIsraeli war.

But the Palestinians have repeatedly complained about the 144 Jewish settlements scattered among Palestinian communities. Israel in February approved construction of 1,800 new homes in the West Bank, mostly around Jerusalem.

In a speech to the Security Council, Nasser al-Kidwa, the Palestinian observer at the United Nations, accused Israel of “an obvious campaign to colonize … with the aim of annexing this land.”

Diplomats from Britain and Arab countries criticized the settlements as an obstacle to peace talks.