RAMALLAH // Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank is accelerating in a manner not witnessed since 2003 and with little government oversight, according to Yesh Din, an Israeli human rights group.
Several settlement outposts have been established since the end of 2008, according to the group, in clear transgression of the US-sponsored road map for peace, while construction in existing settlements is booming.
The news is likely to put further strain on Israel-US relations ahead of the visit of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, to Washington later this month.
Last week Joe Biden, the US vice president, called on Israel to halt the construction of settlements as well as dismantle so-called settlement outposts, settlements established without the Israeli government's permission. According to international law, all settlements in occupied territory are illegal.
But settlement construction, never frozen, has picked up pace in recent months, according to Yesh Din, beginning towards the end of the Ehud Olmert government and speeding up under Mr Netanyahu, whose coalition has not signalled any intent to clamp down on such construction.
"What's new is the number of sites outside the borders of existing settlements, in some cases far away from settlements, and the amount of land that settlers are targeting," said Dror Etkes of Yesh Din. "I haven't seen this kind of daring [from settlers] since 2003. It's an unprecedented assault on West Bank land."
New settlement outposts have sprung up, especially around the road that heads north from Jerusalem to Jenin, past Ramallah and Nablus, said Mr Etkes. West of Israel's separation barrier, large stretches of which are built inside occupied territory and therefore illegal under international law according to a 2004 advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice, whole neighbourhoods have been added to existing settlements.
Mr Etkes said the acceleration in settlement construction could be traced back to the beginning of Israel's war on Gaza, in Dec 2008, during which attention was focused elsewhere. After that, Israel's general elections in February resulted in protracted coalition talks, which meant there was little government oversight.
"All these events allowed settlers to take advantage and go out and do what they wanted to do." The 2001 Mitchell report, named after George Mitchell, the new US Middle East peace envoy, and the 2003 road map plan for peace, which was based on the Mitchell report's recommendations, both call on Israel to halt all settlement construction, including in existing settlements, and dismantle settlement outposts.
Ariel Sharon, the former Israeli prime minister, is widely understood to have reached a tacit agreement with the George W Bush administration that the US would not protest about Israeli construction west of the separation barrier. Israel maintains that it should be allowed to cater for the "natural expansion" of existing settlements. The Barack Obama administration, however, has maintained that Israel is bound by the road map to halt all such construction.
"Israel has to work toward a two-state solution," Mr Biden said on Tuesday to delegates of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a powerful pro-Israel lobbying group in Washington. "You're not going to like my saying this but [do] not build more settlements; dismantle existing outposts and allow Palestinians freedom of movement."
Palestinians see settlement construction as the major reason for the failure of the Oslo process. Settlement expansion grew at an unprecedented rate after the Oslo accords were signed in 1993, nearly doubling in number in a few months. Since then, Israel has made clear its intention to keep hold of so-called settlement blocs, clusters of large settlements, in any agreement with the Palestinians.
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Full list of Emmy 2020 nominations
LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Anthony Anderson, Black-ish
Don Cheadle, Black Monday
Ted Danson, The Good Place
Michael Douglas, The Kominsky Method
Eugene Levy, Schitt’s Creek
Ramy Youssef, Ramy
LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Christina Applegate, Dead to Me
Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Linda Cardellini, Dead to Me
Catherine O’Hara, Schitt’s Creek
Issa Rae, Insecure
Tracee Ellis Ross, Black-ish
OUTSTANDING VARIETY/TALK SERIES
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
Jimmy Kimmel Live
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Jason Bateman, Ozark
Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us
Steve Carell, The Morning Show
Brian Cox, Succession
Billy Porter, Pose
Jeremy Strong, Succession
LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Jennifer Aniston, The Morning Show
Olivia Colman, The Crown
Jodie Comer, Killing Eve
Laura Linney, Ozark
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Zendaya, Euphoria
OUTSTANDING REALITY/COMPETITION PROGRAM
The Masked Singer
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Top Chef
The Voice
LEAD ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES/TV MOVIE
Jeremy Irons, Watchmen
Hugh Jackman, Bad Education
Paul Mescal, Normal People
Jeremy Pope, Hollywood
Mark Ruffalo, I Know This Much Is True
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Cate Blanchett, Mrs. America
Shira Haas, Unorthodox
Regina King, Watchmen
Octavia Spencer, Self Made
Kerry Washington, Little Fires Everywhere
OUTSTANDING LIMITED SERIES
Little Fires Everywhere
Mrs. America
Unbelievable
Unorthodox
Watchmen
OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Dead to Me
The Good Place
Insecure
The Kominsky Method
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Schitt’s Creek
What We Do In The Shadows
OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES
Better Call Saul
The Crown
The Handmaid’s Tale
Killing Eve
The Mandalorian
Ozark
Stranger Things
Succession
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
MATCH INFO
Mumbai Indians 186-6 (20 ovs)
Kings XI Punjab 183-5 (20 ovs)
Mumbai Indians won by three runs
Allardyce's management career
Clubs (10) - Limerick (1991-1992), Perston North End (1992), Blackpool (1994-1996), Notts County (1997-1999), Bolton Wanderers (1999-2007), Newcastle United (2007-2008), Blackburn Rovers (2008-2010), West Ham United (2011-2015), Sunderland (2016), Crystal Palace (2016-2017)
Countries (1) - England (2016)
Expert advice
“Join in with a group like Cycle Safe Dubai or TrainYAS, where you’ll meet like-minded people and always have support on hand.”
Stewart Howison, co-founder of Cycle Safe Dubai and owner of Revolution Cycles
“When you sweat a lot, you lose a lot of salt and other electrolytes from your body. If your electrolytes drop enough, you will be at risk of cramping. To prevent salt deficiency, simply add an electrolyte mix to your water.”
Cornelia Gloor, head of RAK Hospital’s Rehabilitation and Physiotherapy Centre
“Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can ride as fast or as far during the summer as you do in cooler weather. The heat will make you expend more energy to maintain a speed that might normally be comfortable, so pace yourself when riding during the hotter parts of the day.”
Chandrashekar Nandi, physiotherapist at Burjeel Hospital in Dubai
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
MATCH INFO
Burnley 1 (Brady 89')
Manchester City 4 (Jesus 24', 50', Rodri 68', Mahrez 87')
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
