PA official warns Israel over settlements

A file photo of an illegal Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/173118.html

An aide to acting Palestinian Authority (PA) Chief Mahmoud Abbas has warned Israel over its "destructive" settlement policy that exacerbates the situation in the Arab world.

“We warn Israel and the international community of the Israeli policy of settlement, because it will be an introduction to more tension and unsettlement and will drag the region to the climates of wars,” Xinhua quoted Nabil Abu Rudeina as saying in a statement on Monday.

The statement came in response to the Israeli government's decision to build more settlement units in the occupied Palestinian territories of the West Bank.

“Israel is again sending a message to the United States and the international community that it is not interested in peace, security and stability in the region," Abu Rdineh noted.

Israel had earlier announced a plan to construct more houses in East al-Quds (Jerusalem), as the longtime illegal settlement activities across the Palestinian land increase.

Israeli authorities said on Monday that a committee was going to discuss plans for another 948 homes in Gilo, a settlement area in East al-Quds.

The move comes as the United Nations and the European Union condemn the Israeli settlements as illegal under the international law, which bans the construction on the occupied territories.

Early in March, Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics said that the illegal settlement construction in the occupied West bank has climbed sharply in the past several months.

The data, released by the bureau on March 5, indicates that the Israeli regime started over 114 settlement units during the 10-month partial construction freeze Tel Aviv announced in November 2009.

Israel's insistence to resume its West Bank settlement construction projects prompted PA negotiators to walk out on a new round of US-sponsored direct talks with Tel Aviv.

Palestinians have repeatedly voiced concern over efforts by the Israeli regime to wipe out the Islamic and Palestinian identity of the occupied territories, East al-Quds in particular, to effectively render the establishment of a future Palestinian state unfeasible.

Israel occupied the Palestinian lands during the Six-Day War in 1967, and has ever since expanded its illegal settlements with utter disregard for the international calls for an end to the illegal construction.