By KUNA,
Gaza : The Department of Negotiation Affairs at the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) accused Israel on Sunday of intensifying its settlement expansion in the West Bank and Jerusalem since the Annapolis Conference.
The department, headed by Chief Palestinian Negotiator Saeb Erekat, asserted in a report that Israel extended its settlement expansion activities since the Annapolis Peace Conference that was held in the US in November 2007, and thereby was killing peace negotiations between the two sides.
Violations on the part of Israel include establishing over 609 checkpoints across the West Bank that virtually divided it into four separate districts, the statement added.
Israel also increased military checkpoints in the West Bank since August 2005 by 64 percent.
Moreover, Israel’s Housing Ministry issued a decree for constructing 4,486 residential units, with 92 percent of these to be built in Jerusalem.
The report underscored that the construction work of the separation wall continued in different areas of the West Bank.
More than 494 Palestinian were killed and 1,887 others were injured in West Bank and Gaza Strip by the Israeli forces since the Annapolis Conference, it added.