USA SLAMS ISRAELI PLANS TO BUILD 98 NEW HOMES IN JUDEA & SAMARIA: The USA has sharply criticized an Israeli plan to build 98 homes in the Judea & Samaria community of Shiloh. The homes were approved as a possible site to relocate 40 families from the outpost of Amona, which the Supreme Court has ruled is built on private Palestinian land and must be moved by the end of the year. “We strongly condemn the Israeli government’s recent decision to advance a plan that would create a significant new settlement deep in the West Bank, [Judea & Samaria]” State Department spokesman Mark Toner said. He added that the location of the new housing would be far closer to Jordan than to Israel, linking a string of outposts” making the possibility of an independent Palestinian state more remote. Israel hit back with a statement from the Foreign Ministry denying that the planned homes constitute a new settlement. “This housing will be built on state land in the existing settlement of Shilo and will not change its municipal boundary or geographic footprint. The units are intended to provide a housing solution for the residents of Amona who must leave their homes in accordance with the demolition order issued by Israel’s High Court of Justice.” Likewise the European Union (EU) on Friday 7 Oct. 2016, issued a statement condemning Israel for approving the construction of 98 homes on Israel’s government-owned land in Shilo. (Media Line/INN)