Israel breaks ground for big West Bank project

Israel has laid the cornerstone of what is planned to become one of the biggest Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank of Jordan. Israeli Cabinet ministers attended the ceremony Sunday marking the beginning of construction of Efrat, an urban settlement on the Jerusalem-Hebron road. Housing Ministry officials said the government hoped to build the first 350 apartments in the town within two years, with the aim of settling 5,000 families over 10 years. The first neighborhood will be built on a plot of 17.5 acres of land, none of which belong to West Bank Palestinians, according to the government.