Netanyahu, US Envoy Spar over Rule of Law in West Bank

The United Nations and most countries regard the Israeli settlements as illegal because the territories were captured by Israel in a war in 1967 and are hence subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbids construction on occupied lands.

European Union foreign ministers unanimously reinforced their decision to specially label all goods produced in Israeli settlements on Monday.

Israel said 380 acres of land in the Jordan Valley “are in the final stages of being declared state lands”.

Both Palestinian officials and rights groups have rejected claims that Palestinians rely on settlements for employment, arguing that Palestinian businesses could offer more opportunities if they were not hampered by Israeli settlements.

The Israeli military ordered all Palestinian labourers who work in the large Gush Etzion bloc of settlements in the southern West Bank to quit their places of employment after the Tekoa attack.

Palestinians say preventing workers from reaching West Bank settlements for jobs amounts to collective punishment.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the town of Otniel, south of Hebron, on Tuesday morning and slammed the Palestinian Authority for the incitement that propelled a 15-year-old boy to murder a 38-year-old mother of six there.

Shapiro called recent Palestinian terrorist attacks “vicious” and noted he has attended funerals and made condolence calls to the families of the victims.

“We believe they’re fundamentally incompatible with a two-state solution and call into question, frankly, the Israeli government’s commitment to a two-state solution”, Deputy State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.

The accords were meant to lead to a permanent resolution within five years, but more than two decades later, peace efforts are at a standstill and a fresh wave of Palestinian gun, knife and car-ramming attacks erupted in October.

In December, US Secretary of State John Kerry said that key Israeli policies – including control over Area C and settlement activity – were “imperiling” the viability of a two-state solution.

Earlier at the conference, Lieutenant-General Gadi Eisenkot, Israel’s military chief of staff, said Iran’s agreement to halt its nuclear program in return for relief from worldwide economic sanctions presents “grave dangers, but also opportunities”.

Analysts said increased tensions could prompt settlers who have a strong voice in Israel’s right-wing government to lobby for tougher travel and employment restrictions on Palestinians, a step that could in turn further inflame the atmosphere.