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Israeli PM demands to retain another settlement block

16 January 2014 22:43 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted in recent talks with U.S. officials that Israel retains a fourth settlement block, in addition to the three major blocks claimed previously, Israel's Army Radio reported on Thursday, APA reports quoting XInhua.

Israel annexed territories in the West Bank and east Jerusalem following the 1967 Mideast War and continues to build settlements on lands which are meant to be part of the future Palestinian state.

One of the key issues in the peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians is land swaps. The three major blocks Israel had claimed to remain its own under any future agreement are around Ariel, Gush Etzion and Ma'aleh Adumim in the West Bank.

The fourth block which Netanyahu reportedly added to his list of demands is around Beit El near Ramallah at the center of the West Bank. The Ha'aretz daily reported that the Palestinian vehemently oppose this demand.

In addition, the daily reported that Netanyahu refuses to offer an equal amount of land to give back to the Palestinian Authority in exchange for this block of settlements but suggested buying some of the land and providing compensation for Palestinian land owners.

Israel and the Palestinians returned to the negotiation table in July 2012 after a three year halt.

Kerry has visited the region ten times since February 2012, going back and forth between Israeli and Palestinian leaders and trying to gather a framework agreement to reach the initial target of April 9 as a deadline for the current round of talks.

There are many disagreements between Israel and the Palestinians, including the security issues and Israel's ongoing settlement construction on lands set to be part of the future Palestinian state.