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Israeli Construction and Housing Minister Isaac Herzog said construction works in 50 West Bank settlements have been suspended, the local Ha'aretz daily reported Monday.
"The construction works in 50 sites in the West Bank have been suspended and 20 contracts signed with construction contractors were cancelled," Herzog was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, he also presented the minister committee on illegal settlements a series of steps taken to restrain settlement expansion in the West Bank as part of an effort to implement the recommendations of the Sasson report, which was presented to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon by Israeli attorney Taliya Sasson on illegal settlements.
In addition, an oversight mechanism was established to ensure the implementation of those steps, Ha'aretz said.
Sasson complained several weeks ago that "three months after the presenting of the report nothing has yet been done" and the construction of illegal settlements continued unhindered.
The Sasson report documented government collusion over the last five administrations in the establishment of some 105 unauthorized outposts, including 54 built on land which did not belong to the state and 15 on the Palestinian-owned land.
The Settlement Department of the World Zionist Organization and the Housing Ministry had poured millions of shekels into the outposts, even though the cabinet had not approved a single one of them, the report said.
(Xinhua News Agency June 28, 2005)
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