Israel OKs Expansion of West Bank Settlements Amid New Violence

Israel acknowledged Wednesday that it had quietly approved expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, adding to tensions on a day of new violence and anger between Israelis and Palestinians.

A firebomb smashed into an Israeli army truck in the West Bank, sending it tumbling down a slope near the Jalazoun refugee camp and injuring 13 soldiers. In a nearby village, Israeli motorists beat a Palestinian they accused of stoning their car.

Israel’s Channel 2 television said Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordecai had approved construction of thousands of Israeli homes in West Bank settlements, an action sure to further outrage Palestinians already angry about Israeli construction in disputed East Jerusalem.

Netanyahu spokesman David Bar-Illan said the report was exaggerated but confirmed that settlement plans recently were approved. Israelis say they retain the right to expand West Bank settlements.

The United States stepped up its attempts at mediation Wednesday, with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright speaking twice by telephone with Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat.

Marwan Kanafani, an Arafat spokesman, said the United States was trying to arrange a U.S.-Israeli-Palestinian meeting, but he refused to give details. Israeli media also said the U.S. was working to set up a three-way summit.

At the United Nations, Israel sought to block a proposed General Assembly session on the Middle East, saying it would lead to “further polarization” between the Jewish state and its Arab neighbors.

Under a procedure used only nine times in the 51-year history of the United Nations, Arab representatives have asked for a special session of the 185-member body. Their request followed a second U.S. veto of a Security Council resolution criticizing Israel for its East Jerusalem housing project.

If more than half the organization’s members agree, the special session would have to be called by Secretary-General Kofi Annan within 24 hours.