Israel plans to build thousands more houses in settlements

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to announce construction plan of thousands of new housing units in the settlement, close to the upcoming planned release of 26 Palestinian prisoners, Israeli media reported on Wednesday. The Prime Minister's Office spokesperson Mark Regev refused to comment about the reports. The Walla! news website quoted an official as saying that "the upcoming wave of construction would be wide in its extent." However, the official did not specify where the construction would exactly take place, but made clear it would be in the settlements, either in the West Bank or in east Jerusalem. If the Israeli announcement does take place next week, it would be in complete contradiction to the request made by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who last week asked Netanyahu not to announce any more settlements' construction following the release of the Palestinian prisoners, fearing it would be a serious blow to the already dead-locked peace talks. Israel's government authorized the release of 109 Palestinian prisoners as a gesture amid the renewal of the peace talks last July, after a three-year halt in negotiations due to Israel's continuing construction in the east Jerusalem and West Bank territories it annexed in the 1967 Mideast War, which are set to be part of a future Palestinian state. The third batch of 26 prisoners planned for December 29 follows two other releases of prisoners in August and October, which were also followed by announcements on construction of thousands of housing units in the settlements. The United States official is trying to salvage the talks amid their deterioration and recently presented security-arrangements plan which, according to various reports, adopts most of Israel's demands including Israeli presence in the Jordan valley, on lands set to be part of the Palestinian state. The Palestinian President reportedly rejected the deal. The European Union also warned that if the talks fail they will hold Israel accountable for it. Earlier on Wednesday, Netanyahu's spokespersons for the international media slammed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for not condemning recent militant attacks against Israelis, one of which resulted in the death of a 23 year old Israeli Bedouin who was shot down by a Gazan sniper. Several ministers in Netanyahu's coalition said on Wednesday that the cabinet should re-consider the upcoming release of prisoners due to the recent attacks, including a bomb on a bus south of Tel Aviv on Sunday, which resulted in no injuries, and an Israeli policeman who was stabbed and moderately injured in the West Bank on Monday. These incidents, which may or may not be connected, follow several Israeli military raids in the West Bank in which at least two Palestinians were killed last week, as well as several incidents near the Gaza fence over the weekend, in which groups of Palestinians approaching the border fence were shot by Israeli soldiers, killing at least one Palestinian and injuring 6.