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Hardline Israelis march in WB for new settlements in E1

13 February 2014 19:24 (UTC +04:00)

According to reports, some 6,000 people attended the march on Thursday that started in Maale Adumim settlement and ended at E1.

The protesters demanded the Tel Aviv regime to construct new settler homes in E1 that is a sensitive zone between East al-Quds and the West Bank.

They carried signs reading "Kerry = persona non grata," referring to US Secretary of State John Kerry who is seeking to push Israel and Palestinians toward an agreement.

"We will keep (the) promise to build in E1," housing minister Uri Ariel told protesters.

In April 2013, Ariel, who is a member of far-right Jewish Home party, vowed to build new settler units in E1 within 18 months.

The E1 expansion has been on Israel’s agenda since the 1990s, but nothing has ever been constructed because of heavy international pressure.

The E1 project is aimed at connecting the settlement of Maale Adumim to East al-Quds (Jerusalem), about six kilometers away. The plan will cut off the northern part of the West Bank from the south.

More than half a million Israelis live in illegal settlements built since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds in 1967.

The Israeli settlements are considered illegal by much of the international community. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the settlement construction is part of Tel Aviv’s policy and will not stop.