Settlers vow to break building freeze

JERUSALEM, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- The settler council said it would break the building freeze in response to the slaying of four Israelis by terrorists near Hebron Tuesday night.

A statement issued by the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza said construction will resume in all West Bank settlements at 6 p.m. Wednesday evening.

Naftali Bennet, director general of the council, told Israel Radio the council decided to break the government imposed construction freeze scheduled to end on Sept. 26 in response to the fatal shooting.

All West Bank settlements were instructed to locate an area in their community where building would begin, he said.

"We're talking about one of the worst terrorist attacks in the past few years," he said.

"This attack again proved that despite what might be going on in Washington right now, the Palestinians have no goal to create a peaceful state for themselves but are entirely driven to destroy our state and our people," he said.

"We will start work this evening and build all across Judea and Samaria," he told the radio.

"They kill and we build. Each side will do what it is good at," the Hebrew daily Maariv quoted Bennet saying.

Peace Now a rights movement that opposes settlement building issued a statement warning the council it would submit a complaint to the police if the current building freeze imposed by the government is violated, the newspaper said.