Israeli government denies media report that they might return 90% of West Bank land

Monday August 16, 2010 01:53 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News

Officials from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu categorically rejected a media report that Israel planned to return up to 90% of stolen Palestinian land in the West Bank during direct talks with Palestinian leaders.

Israeli settlement in the West Bank (file photo)

The report, released on Thursday by a London-based paper, claimed that Israeli officials had discussed a plan for resolution of the conflict that would include the return of 90% of stolen Palestinian land for a Palestinian state. Such a move would involve the return of 50,000 Israelis currently living in illegal settlements in the West Bank back into Israel proper.

The report stated that the land to be returned to its rightful owners would not include any of East Jerusalem, which has been seized piece by piece since 1967 by Israelis from the indigenous Palestinian inhabitants.

There are currently around 250,000 Israelis living in settlements in East Jerusalem, and 300,000 living in settlements in the West Bank. All of these settlements are considered illegal under international law.

In the past, the Israeli government has never put forward any plan to return more than 60% of the stolen land back to the Palestinians. But even that amount sparked resistance from right-wing Israelis, who claim that Israel should take over the entire West Bank, and not return any land to its indigenous inhabitants, the Palestinians.

west bank | israeli settlement | news report saed at imemc dot org