Against The Aqaba Agreement With Palestine, Israel Makes SURE Settlement Development In The West Bank CONTINUES

Illustration of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. (Wikimedia Commons/Ralf Roletschek)

JAKARTA - Israeli officials deny Aqaba's agreement will freeze the construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, even for just one day.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied Israel agreed to freeze settlement construction for six months, in a deal reached with the Palestinian and US governments following Sunday's talks in the city of Aqaba, Jordan.

The talks were attended by senior officials Egypt, Jordan, and the US trying to broker deals to reduce violence in the occupied West Bank before Ramadan, following a sharp increase in Israeli attacks and militant attacks this year.

"The Israeli government and the Palestinian National Authority confirm their joint readiness and commitment to immediately work to end unilateral action for a period of 3-6 months," the parties said at the meeting.

However, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a pro-district far-right figure, immediately denied there would be a construction freeze.

"I don't know what they're talking about or not in Jordan," Smotrich wrote on Twitter.

"But one thing I know, there will be no freezing of settlement construction and construction, for one day (it is under my authority)," he explained.

Smotrich, who was given political responsibility for Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, vowed last week to bring "laws on all civilian issues (surfaces) in line with Israeli law", in a move critics fear as full annexation.

Sunday evening, PM Netanyahu followed up with a tweet, the current settlement plan will "continue in accordance with the initial planning and development schedule, without change".

Meanwhile, Israel's National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi also said that there was "no change in plans."

Earlier, a joint statement on Sunday after talks in Aqaba said the deal included "Israel's commitment to stop discussing each new residential unit for four months, and halting the authorization of each outpost for six months".

There is no indication that it will affect the expansion of settlements that have been agreed upon by the Israeli government. It comes just two weeks after the cabinet grants retrospective permits to buildings in nine West Bank settlements and approves 10,000 new settlers' homes.

It was not clear what Smotrich's comments meant for the deal or for PM Netanyahu's far-right coalition.

It is planned that Sunday's meeting participants will meet again in March at Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, agreeing to "maintain positive momentum and expand this deal towards a broader political process towards a just and lasting peace," they said in a statement.

Separately, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan praised the "commitment of the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority to reduce and prevent further violence".

"We recognize that this meeting is a starting point and there is a lot of work to be done over the coming weeks and months, to build a stable and prosperous future for Israel and Palestine. Implementation will be very important," Sullivan said.

The sharp increase in violence in the occupied West Bank continued on Sunday, when two Israeli settlers were shot dead in Huwara, which led to a wave of violence in the area and reports that settlers had burned Palestinian homes.