Israel Resumes Settlement Building

This came as the Israeli Knesset approved the second and third readings of a "racist" bill to prevent Palestinians who marry Israeli citizens from receiving citizenship or permanent residency status.

The new tender is the first for construction in a Gaza settlement for more than a year, said the Israeli military radio which carried the news.

The Israeli Peace Now Movement immediately condemned the decision as "new proof that the government of (prime minister) Ariel Sharon is not meeting its commitments within the framework of the roadmap."

The U.S.-backed peace plan calls for Israel to freeze "all settlement activity (including the so-called natural growth of settlements)."

The move came just days after Sharon told U.S. President George W. Bush that Israel would remove unauthorized settlement outposts in the territories, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

A senior aide to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat also lambasted the Israeli decision as "a very dangerous step."

"This is a very dangerous step taken by the Israeli government," the Israeli Haaretz newspaper quoted Nabil Abu Rdeinah as saying.

According to Israeli interior ministry figures, 7,700 Israeli settlers live in the Gaza Strip.

The international community considers all Israeli settlements in the occupied territories illegal and call for their dismantlement.