A Palestinian flag on the West Bank, while Israeli settlements can be seen in the background.

(CNN) Israel came under fire Monday for claiming close to 1,000 acres of land in the Palestinian West Bank.

Israel announced Sunday that the land in and around the Wadi Fukin valley, would become state land, clearing the way for the development of a new Israeli settlement. The affected land lies near Bethlehem and close to Bitar Ilit one of the biggest Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Farmers in the area have 45 days to appeal Israels decision to claim the land.

The seizure of such a large swathe of land risks paving the way for further settlement activity, which as the United Nations has reiterated on many occasions is illegal under international law and runs totally counter to the pursuit of a two-state solution, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement Monday.

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond issued a similar statement, criticizing the move.

This is a particularly ill-judged decision that comes at a time when the priority must be to build on the cease-fire in Gaza. It will do serious damage to Israels standing in the international community, he said. Our position on settlements is clear: they are illegal under international law, present an obstacle to peace and take us further away from a two state solution at a time when negotiations to achieve this objective urgently need to be resumed.

Hammond said efforts should be focused on securing a durable cease-fire in Gaza and lasting peace. We strongly urge the government of Israel to reverse this decision, he said.

Teens abduction

Israeli officials told CNN the expropriation was linked to the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers who disappeared from the West Bank settlement of Gush Etzion in June. Tensions between Israel and Hamas ratcheted up after the teens bodies were found June 30.

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Israels 1,000-acre land grab in West Bank comes under fire from U.N., local farmers

Israel came under fire Monday for claiming close to 1,000 acres of land in the Palestinian West Bank.

Israel announced Sunday that the land in and around the Wadi Fukin valley, would become "state land," clearing the way for the development of a new Israeli settlement. The affected land lies near Bethlehem and close to Bitar Ilit -- one of the biggest Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Farmers in the area have 45 days to appeal Israel's decision to claim the land.

"The seizure of such a large swathe of land risks paving the way for further settlement activity, which -- as the United Nations has reiterated on many occasions -- is illegal under international law and runs totally counter to the pursuit of a two-state solution," United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement Monday.

UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond issued a similar statement, criticizing the move.

"This is a particularly ill-judged decision that comes at a time when the priority must be to build on the cease-fire in Gaza. It will do serious damage to Israel's standing in the international community," he said. "Our position on settlements is clear: they are illegal under international law, present an obstacle to peace and take us further away from a two state solution at a time when negotiations to achieve this objective urgently need to be resumed."

Hammond said efforts should be focused on securing a durable cease-fire in Gaza and lasting peace. "We strongly urge the government of Israel to reverse this decision," he said.

Teens' abduction

Israeli officials told CNN the expropriation was linked to the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers who disappeared from the West Bank settlement of Gush Etzion in June. Tensions between Israel and Hamas ratcheted up after the teens' bodies were found June 30.

Both sides last week agreed to an open-ended cease-fire following more than seven weeks of heavy fighting.

Excerpt from:
Israel slammed for West Bank land grab

(CNN) Israel came under fire Monday for claiming close to 1,000 acres of land in the Palestinian West Bank.

Israel announced Sunday that the land in and around the Wadi Fukin valley would become state land, clearing the way for the development of a new Israeli settlement. The affected land lies near Bethlehem and close to Bitar Ilit one of the biggest Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Farmers in the area have 45 days to appeal Israels decision to claim the land.

The seizure of such a large swathe of land risks paving the way for further settlement activity, which as the United Nations has reiterated on many occasions is illegal under international law and runs totally counter to the pursuit of a two-state solution, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement Monday.

UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond issued a similar statement, criticizing the move.

This is a particularly ill-judged decision that comes at a time when the priority must be to build on the cease-fire in Gaza. It will do serious damage to Israels standing in the international community, he said. Our position on settlements is clear: they are illegal under international law, present an obstacle to peace and take us further away from a two state solution at a time when negotiations to achieve this objective urgently need to be resumed.

Hammond said efforts should be focused on securing a durable cease-fire in Gaza and lasting peace. We strongly urge the government of Israel to reverse this decision, he said.

Teens abduction

Israeli officials told CNN the expropriation was linked to the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers who disappeared from the West Bank settlement of Gush Etzion in June. Tensions between Israel and Hamas ratcheted up after the teens bodies were found June 30.

Both sides last week agreed to an open-ended cease-fire following more than seven weeks of heavy fighting.

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Israel Slammed For Claiming West Bank Land

Israeli women walk in a Jewish settlement known as "Gevaot", in the Etzion settlement bloc, near Bethlehem. Photo: Reuters

Jerusalem: Israel laid claim on Sunday to nearly 400 hectares (1000 acres) of West Bank land in a Jewish settlement bloc near Bethlehem - a step that could herald significant Israeli construction in the area - defying Palestinian demands for a halt in settlement expansion and challenging world opinion.

Peace Now, an Israeli group that opposes the construction of settlements in the West Bank, said that the action on Sunday might be the largest single appropriation of West Bank land in decades and that it could "dramatically change the reality" in the area.

Palestinians aspire to form a state in the lands that Israel conquered in 1967.

Israeli officials said the political directive to expedite a survey of the status of the land came after three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped and killed in June while hitchhiking in that area. In July, the Israeli authorities arrested a Palestinian who was accused of being the prime mover in the kidnapping and killing of the teenagers. The timing of the land appropriation suggested that it was meant as a kind of compensation for the settlers and punishment for the Palestinians.

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The land, which is near the Jewish settlement of Gvaot in the Etzion bloc south of Jerusalem, has now officially been declared "state land," as opposed to land privately owned by Palestinians, clearing the way for the potential approval of Israeli building plans there.

But the mayor of the nearby Palestinian town of Surif, Ahmad Lafi, said the land belonged to Palestinian families. He told the official Palestinian news agency WAFA that Israeli army forces and personnel posted orders early on Sunday announcing the seizure of land that was planted with olive and forest trees in Surif and the nearby villages of Al-Jaba'a and Wadi Fukin.

Interested parties have 45 days in which to register objections.

The kidnapping of the teenagers prompted an Israeli military clampdown in the West Bank against Hamas, the Islamic group that dominates Gaza and that Israel said was behind the abductions. The subsequent tensions along the Israel-Gaza border erupted into a 50-day war that ended last week with an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire.

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Israel claims land in West Bank

Israel on Sunday laid claim to nearly 1,000 acres of West Bank land in a Jewish settlement block near Bethlehem a step that could herald significant Israeli construction in the area defying Palestinian demands for a halt in settlement expansion and challenging world opinion.

Peace Now, an Israeli group that opposes the construction of settlements in the West Bank, said that the action Sunday might be the largest single appropriation of West Bank land in decades and that it could dramatically change the reality in the area.

Palestinians aspire to form a state in the lands that Israel conquered in 1967.

Israeli officials said the political directive to expedite a survey of the status of the land came after three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped and killed in June while hitchhiking in that area. In July, the Israeli authorities arrested a Palestinian who was accused of being the prime mover in the kidnapping and killing of the teenagers. The timing of the land appropriation suggested that it was meant as a kind of compensation for the settlers and punishment for the Palestinians.

The land, which is near the Jewish settlement outpost of Gvaot in the Etzion block south of Jerusalem, has now officially been declared state land, as opposed to land privately owned by Palestinians, clearing the way for the potential approval of Israeli building plans there.

But the mayor of the nearby Palestinian town of Surif, Ahmad Lafi, said the land belonged to Palestinian families from the area. He told the official Palestinian news agency WAFA that Israeli army forces and personnel arrived in the town early Sunday and posted orders announcing the seizure of land that was planted with olive and forest trees in Surif and the nearby villages of Al-Jabaa and Wadi Fukin.

The kidnapping of the teenagers prompted an Israeli military clampdown in the West Bank against Hamas, the Islamic group that dominates Gaza and that Israel said was behind the abductions. The subsequent tensions along the Israel-Gaza border erupted into a 50-day war that ended last week with an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire.

The land appropriation has quickly turned attention back to the Israeli-occupied West Bank and exposed the contradictory visions in the Israeli government that hamper the prospects of any broader Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, condemned the announcement and called for a reversal of the land claim, saying that it would further deteriorate the situation and that all settlement was illegal.

Though Israel says that it intends to keep the Etzion settlement block under any permanent agreement with the Palestinians and that most recent peace plans have involved land swaps, most countries consider Israeli settlements to be a violation of international law. The continued construction has also been a constant source of tension between Israel and the Palestinians, as well as Israel and its most important Western allies.

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Israel seizes land in West Bank block

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