TEL AVIV, June 13, 2011 (WAFA) – Israeli High Court Monday ruled to indefinitely freeze construction in Ofra settlement, built on Silwad and Ein Yabrud lands, two villages near Ramallah in the central West Bank.

Residents of Silwad and Ein Yabrud had filed a lawsuit to freeze the building of 48 new residential units on their lands.

Israeli Public Prosecutor and Ofra settlement representative reached an agreement to freeze settlement construction in exchange for the Palestinians dropping the lawsuit.

Ofra settlement representative had conditioned the freeze of the building on the government’s commitment to prepare a structural map of the settlement construction; the court turned down the appeal. 

Ofra settlement is one of the first settlements established in the West Bank, by former Israeli Minister of Defense Shimon Peres.

M.H./F.J.