Israel PM vows more settlement

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue “developing” settlements as Palestinians fumed over killing of two nationals.
They yesterday accused Israel of a “dangerous escalation” after the army killed two people in the West Bank, calling the violence a deliberate attempt to scupper peace talks.
“This dangerous Israeli escalation aims to thwart American and international efforts to move forward with the peace process, and leads the negotiations to a dead end,” presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said in a statement published by the official WAFA news agency.
His remarks were made after two Palestinians were killed in clashes sparked by separate arrest raids by the Israeli army in the northern West Bank.
The latest deaths raised to 28 the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli troops since the beginning of the year.
“We will not stop, even for a moment, building our country and becoming stronger, and developing… the settlement enterprise,” he told members of his rightwing Likud faction in remarks broadcast on army radio yesterday.
Netanyahu’s comments, made late on Wednesday, came as US Secretary of State John Kerry fights for the survival of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, which were launched in late July but have been severely strained by Israel’s persistent settlement drive. Late on Wednesday, the Haaretz news website reported that Kerry and other senior US officials had urged Netanyahu and his cabinet “to exercise maximum restraint in announcing new construction”.