Associated Press
November 21, 2001

JERUSALEM, Nov. 21 - Israelis are being offered free housing in an isolated part of the West Bank where settlers have been leaving because of danger from the Palestinian uprising and an economic slump, a municipal official said Wednesday.

The newcomers will not be charged rent or municipal taxes, said Orit Artzielli, spokeswoman of the Jordan Valley Regional Council.

Since Israeli-Palestinian fighting began just over a year ago, four Israelis have been killed in Palestinian shooting attacks in the West Bank's Jordan Valley.

About 4,000 Israelis live in 18 settlements in the Jordan Valley. More than 50 families have left since the outbreak of fighting in September 2000.

The purpose of the free housing offer is to encourage the settlers who have stayed behind. "It is very depressing to walk down a street at night and see empty houses," Artzielli said.

The Jordan Valley economy is based on agriculture and the tourist industry. But due to the Palestinian attacks, most Israelis and foreign tourists have stopped coming. Agriculture has also been hit hard because it was dependent on Palestinian labor, which is frequently unavailable due to Israeli blockades of Palestinian cities. The danger on the roads has also made it difficult for the farmers to get fresh produce to markets, Artzielli said.

In another part of the West Bank, the divided city of Hebron, Jewish settlers are to have their prefabricated homes replaced by concrete and stone structures because of constant Palestinian shooting attacks, an Israeli official said Wednesday.

The tiny Tel Romeida enclave is under fire almost every night from a nearby Palestinian neighborhood, said Yarden Vatikay, an adviser to Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer. "The houses have so many holes in them they look like strainers," Vatikay said.

Ben-Eliezer approved the construction despite new U.S. calls for a halt to construction in the settlements.