Maria 31 dec 2011
Palestinian Leadership to Complain Settlements to Security Council
RAMALLAH, (WAFA) – The Palestinian leadership decided to complain about Israeli settlement plans to the United Nations Security Council, said a statement published by PLO Executive Committee on Saturday.
The Executive Committee, in a meeting chaired by President Mahmoud Abbas, also decided to call for a meeting of the Arab League Council to address the Israeli settlement activities that aim to completely isolate Jerusalem and divide the West Bank to cantons to prevent the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, said the statement.
The Palestinian leadership also called on the Quartet members to address the dangers of the unprecedented and systematic Israeli settlement expansion and to give it priority over negotiations that face failure due to Israeli settlement policy.
The Palestinian leadership has also decided to call for an urgent meeting of the new Central Election Commission to begin work to update voter registration in the West Bank and Jerusalem, as well as to reopen the commission offices in the Gaza Strip for registration and update the voter record.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18542
30 dec 2011
UK condemns Israel's 'provocative' plans in Jerusalem
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Britain's Minister for the Middle East and North Africa Alistair Burt on Friday condemned Israel's plans to expand an illegal settlement and build a tourism center in occupied East Jerusalem.
Jerusalem municipality on Wednesday approved plans to build 130 new homes in Gilo settlement and a tourism complex in Silwan.
"I condemn the decision by the Jerusalem Local Planning and Building Committee to build additional structures in the Palestinian neighbourhood of Silwan, and housing in the settlement of Gilo," Burt said in a statement.
"This is another provocative and deeply counter-productive step, the latest in a series by the Israeli authorities," he added.
The minister said Israel's continued settlement building made it "ever harder" to achieve a two-state solution.
France also said it was "deeply concerned" by Israel's plans for the occupied city in a statement Thursday.
It urged Israel to abandon the projects "in order to establish between the parties a climate of trust that is conducive to the resumption of direct negotiations."
In September 2010, Israel refused to extend a partial freeze on illegal settlement building despite intense international pressure, prompting the PLO to withdraw from talks.
All settlements are illegal under international law, and the PLO refuses to return to negotiations while Israel continues to build Jewish-only housing on occupied Palestinian land.
On Nov. 1, Israel announced it was speeding up illegal construction after the UN cultural agency UNESCO voted to admit Palestine.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=448913 7 jan 2012, 23:49 , Respect
Palestinian Leadership to Complain Settlements to Security Council
RAMALLAH, (WAFA) – The Palestinian leadership decided to complain about Israeli settlement plans to the United Nations Security Council, said a statement published by PLO Executive Committee on Saturday.
The Executive Committee, in a meeting chaired by President Mahmoud Abbas, also decided to call for a meeting of the Arab League Council to address the Israeli settlement activities that aim to completely isolate Jerusalem and divide the West Bank to cantons to prevent the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, said the statement.
The Palestinian leadership also called on the Quartet members to address the dangers of the unprecedented and systematic Israeli settlement expansion and to give it priority over negotiations that face failure due to Israeli settlement policy.
The Palestinian leadership has also decided to call for an urgent meeting of the new Central Election Commission to begin work to update voter registration in the West Bank and Jerusalem, as well as to reopen the commission offices in the Gaza Strip for registration and update the voter record.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18542
30 dec 2011
UK condemns Israel's 'provocative' plans in Jerusalem
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Britain's Minister for the Middle East and North Africa Alistair Burt on Friday condemned Israel's plans to expand an illegal settlement and build a tourism center in occupied East Jerusalem.
Jerusalem municipality on Wednesday approved plans to build 130 new homes in Gilo settlement and a tourism complex in Silwan.
"I condemn the decision by the Jerusalem Local Planning and Building Committee to build additional structures in the Palestinian neighbourhood of Silwan, and housing in the settlement of Gilo," Burt said in a statement.
"This is another provocative and deeply counter-productive step, the latest in a series by the Israeli authorities," he added.
The minister said Israel's continued settlement building made it "ever harder" to achieve a two-state solution.
France also said it was "deeply concerned" by Israel's plans for the occupied city in a statement Thursday.
It urged Israel to abandon the projects "in order to establish between the parties a climate of trust that is conducive to the resumption of direct negotiations."
In September 2010, Israel refused to extend a partial freeze on illegal settlement building despite intense international pressure, prompting the PLO to withdraw from talks.
All settlements are illegal under international law, and the PLO refuses to return to negotiations while Israel continues to build Jewish-only housing on occupied Palestinian land.
On Nov. 1, Israel announced it was speeding up illegal construction after the UN cultural agency UNESCO voted to admit Palestine.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=448913 7 jan 2012, 23:49 , Respect
- 18 dec 2011
PA Denounces Israeli Plan to Build 1000 Housing Units in West Bank
RAMALLAH, December 18, 2011 (WAFA) – The Palestinian Authority denounced Sunday Israeli plans to build 1,000 housing units in West Bank settlements.
Presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh told WAFA that 'the Israeli decision contradicts with efforts to revive the peace process.'
He said that it also coincides with rise in Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians, their property and holy places.
Abu Rudeineh called on the international community to put a stop to this Israeli policy, which undermines peace efforts.
The Israeli housing ministry published Sunday bids to build 1,000 housing units in the occupied territory as part of the campaign to build 6,000 units in the West Bank and inside Israel, according to the Israeli Yedioth Ahronot newspaper website.
It said the ministry will adopt thousands of housing units in 44 settlements, including 348 in ‘Betar Illit’, west of Bethlehem, 500 in the settlement of 'Har Homa' on the land of Abu Ghneim Mountain, south of Jerusalem, and 180 in Giv’at Ze’ev settlement, north of Jerusalem.
Ariel Attias, Israeli minister of housing and construction and member of the religious Shas party, said that the construction decision came one month after Palestine has joined the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18401
Report: Israel issues over 1,000 settlement tenders
TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma'an) -- The Israeli ministry of housing and construction announced Sunday that they will market tenders for over 1,000 housing units in illegal settlements in the West Bank.
"Some countries won't be pleased with this (tenders), but they won't be surprised," Ariel Atias, Israel's housing and construction minister, was quoted as saying by Israeli news site Ynet.
The housing units include 500 in Har Homa south of Jerusalem, 348 in Betar Illit, southwest of Jerusalem, and 180 in Givat Zeev, northwest of Jerusalem.
"The decision was reached last month after the Palestinians were accepted into UNESCO," Atias said.
Last week, Israel approved the construction of 40 homes and a farm in two new settler enclaves near Bethlehem.
"Israel's military establishment has approved the establishment of a new, permanent neighborhood and a farm near the West Bank settlement of Efrat," Israeli daily Haaretz reported.
"The building in Efrat is especially sensitive in my opinion, because it is east of the road leading to Bethlehem," Peace Now's Hagit Ofran told AFP in response to the move.
"That means that if Israel wants to annex Efrat, it will cut off Bethlehem from the southern West Bank."
Israel has come under renewed international criticism for its surge of settlement activities since a government decision on November 1 to speed up building in response to Palestine joining UNESCO.
More than 310,000 Israelis live in settlements in the occupied West Bank and the number is constantly growing.
Another 200,000 live in a dozen settlement neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, which was captured by Israel in 1967 and annexed in a move never recognized internationally.
The international community considers all settlements in territories occupied by Israel since June 1967 as illegal, whether or not approved by its government.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=445980
New Israeli plan to build 23 settlement units east of O. Jerusalem
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The Israeli district committee for planning and building in occupied Jerusalem approved a plan to build additional 23 housing units in a new settlement outpost in Ras Al-Amud neighborhood east of the old city of Jerusalem.
Specialist in settlement affairs Ahmed Sob-Laban said this Israeli district committee approved a plan to add 23 housing units to two apartment buildings as well as to build a third building in place of a gas station and shops near settlement outpost Ma'aleh David, in which the building of 17 new housing units was endorsed two weeks ago by the same committee.
The specialist added this new settlement outpost is about 100 meters from outpost Ma'aleh David in Ras Al-Amud area and financed by notorious Zionist businessman Yousuf Sultan, a settler of Givat Ze'ev settlement north of Jerusalem.
This businessman claims he owns the land on which the gas station was built, he noted.
http://fwd4.me/0ilH 7 jan 2012, 23:48 , Respect -
Maria 19 dec 2011
Germany: Israel settlement building 'devastating'
BERLIN (Ma'an) -- The German government issued a rare condemnation of Israeli settlement building on occupied Palestinian land on Monday, news reports said.
Spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel Georg Streiter said Israel's announcement on Sunday that it will market tenders for over 1,000 housing units in the West Bank was "a devastating message" for the peace process, Associated Press reported.
Streiter said Germany "urgently calls on the Israeli government to refrain from inviting bids for the apartments."
Germany has strong ties to Israel and historically shied from overt criticism of its government, but under Merkel has adopted a more outspoken stance against settlement construction.
The European nation voted in favor of a resolution at the UN slamming settlement building in February.
In a joint statement at the UN meeting, France, Britain and Germany said the Jewish-only communities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem "are illegal under international law, an obstacle to peace and constitute a threat to a two-state solution."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=446335 7 jan 2012, 23:48 , Respect -
Maria 20 dec 2011
El-Araby: Quartet Should Find Solution, Not Manage Arab-Israeli Conflict
CAIRO, (WAFA) – Secretary General of the Arab League, Nabil el-Araby, stressed that the Quartet is required to take efforts towards finding a solution to end the Arab-Israeli conflict instead of managing it, in an interview with al-Shorouk Egyptian newspaper published Tuesday.
He said the Quartet, including the US, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations are “happy to run the Arab-Israeli conflict,” affirming that the objective is to find just and practical solutions to end the Israeli occupation and achieve Israeli withdrawal from Arab lands.
The solution to the Palestinian problem lies in enabling the Palestinian people to establish an independent state, with Jerusalem as its capital, and exercise their right to self-determination, said el-Araby.
Palestine Has to Be More Flexible…” H(ILL)ARY SAYS!
He indicated that UN resolution 181 is a birth certificate for both Palestinian and Israeli states, thus it is Palestine’s right to apply for full UN membership in the Security Council.
El-Araby stressed that the Palestinian cause remains a top priority for the Arab League, even during the current troubles in some Arab states, and emphasized that the Arab League is in complete coordination with and following the advice of the Palestinian leadership.
El-Araby said he will meet President Mahmoud Abbas in Cairo on Tuesday for further consultation.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18426
Abu Rudeineh Welcomes Statement of EU Members on Settlements
RAMALLAH, (WAFA) – Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for President Mahmoud Abbas, welcomed Tuesday a statement by the four European Union member states at the United Nations Security Council on Israeli settlements.
The four states – Britain, France, Germany and Portugal – denounced in a joint statement new Israeli plans to build 1,000 housing units in West Bank settlements, expressing “dismay” at the decision and saying Israel “sends a devastating message” by its act.
Abu Rudeineh said in a statement that “this position is consistence with international resolutions and the road map.”
He said “what is required now from everyone is to force Israel to stop settlements and to create the proper atmosphere to resume negotiations on the basis of the two-state solution and the 1967 borders.”
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18434
EU, Member States Denounce Israeli Settlement Plans
BRUSSELS, (WAFA) – The European Union, France, Germany, Britain and Portugal denounced on Tuesday Israeli plans to build 1000 housing units in West Bank settlements.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton expressed in a statement issued in Brussels “disapproval” of the Israeli plans.
“I wish to express my strong disapproval of the Israeli authorities’ announcement that they intend to publish tenders for the construction of some 1,000 housing units in the West Bank, including in East Jerusalem,” said the statement.
The EU's position is clear, said Ashton, “settlement construction is illegal under international law and further complicates efforts to find a solution to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
She urged Israel “not to proceed with this publication,” stressing that “by ensuring the suspension of the publication of these tenders, the Israeli government can contribute positively to these efforts.”
Meanwhile, the four EU member states at the United Nations Security Council – France, Germany, Britain and Portugal – condemned in a joint statement the Israeli settlement plan.
Israel’s settlement plans “send a devastating message,” said the four, adding that they were “dismayed by these wholly negative developments.”
Reading the statement, Britain’s UN ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said that “the viability of the Palestinian state that we want to see and the two-state solution that is essential for Israel's long-term security are threatened by the systematic and deliberate expansion of settlements.”
Similar condemnations were issued by most of the 15 members of the Security Council following the monthly discussion of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18431 7 jan 2012, 23:48 , Respect -
Maria 21 dec 2011
Israel hits back after sharp rebuke at UN
TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma'an) -- Israel has denounced Europe for criticizing the expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, reports in Israeli media said Wednesday.
A Foreign Ministry statement said EU members of the Security Council should exert efforts on resuming talks between Israel and the PLO, not "interfering" in "internal" affairs, the Haaretz newspaper reported.
Investing their efforts in "inappropriate bickering" with a country with an independent legal and justice system will cause those countries to lose "their credibility and make themselves irrelevant," it said.
The ministry also called on EU Security Council members to "adhere to the wording of the Quartet plan and refrain from giving it interpretations that contradict both the letter and the spirit of the original text."
The expression of discontent followed Tuesday's meeting in which most members of the UN Security Council voiced deep concerns about the impasse in the peace process and criticized Israel's settlements.
Council members were reacting to a briefing by UN assistant secretary-general for political affairs, who told them the search for peace "remained elusive in a context of tensions on the ground, deep mistrust between the parties and volatile regional dynamics."
Statements criticizing Israel were made on behalf of at least nine of the 15 council members.
Representatives of Britain, France, Germany and Portugal said Fernandez-Taranco's briefing made clear to the council that Israeli settlement activity was undermining attempts to restart stalled peace talks with the Palestinians.
"One of the themes that emerged was the severely damaging effect that increased settlement construction and settler violence is having on the ground and on the prospects of a return to negotiations," the four European Union council members said in a joint statement.
"Israel's continuing announcements to accelerate the construction of settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including East Jerusalem, send a devastating message," said the statement, which was read to reporters by British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant.
The Europeans called for an immediate halt to Israeli settlement activity, adding they hoped the government would follow through on promises to bring settlers guilty of violence to justice.
Without explicitly naming the United States, Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin accused Washington of turning a blind eye to the way efforts to restart the peace process have come to nothing.
"There is one delegation which would not want to hear anything about it, any kind of a statement, which believes that somehow things will sort of settle themselves somehow miraculously out of their own," Churkin said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=446957
UK's Hague condemns Israel settlement plans
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Britain's Foreign Secretary William has condemned the announcement by the Israeli government to publish tenders for 1,028 additional housing units in settlements near Jerusalem.
In a statement released Wednesday, the foreign secretary condemned the announcement for tenders in Har Homa, Beitar Illit and Givat Ze'ev as well as the expansion plans for Erfat.
"These are only the most recent in a steady drip of announcements of new or expanded settlements - all of which are illegal under international law and which make it ever harder" to establish a Palestinian state.
He urged Israel to revoke these "wrong and deeply counter-productive" decisions.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=446972
4 European members of security council slam Israel's settlement expansion
NEW YORK, (PIC)-- France, Britain, Germany and Portugal strongly denounced Israel on Tuesday for inviting tenders for the construction of new housing units in settlements in the occupied territories of the West Bank and Jerusalem.
The four countries expressed their shock at such Israeli behavior and described it as "entirely negative," according to a joint statement issued by them following a meeting held by the UN security council on the situation in the middle east.
The four European countries said Israel's announcements of accelerated settlement building send a "devastating" message, and urged it to reverse is plans.
They also demanded Israel to put an end to its settlers' provocative attacks on Islamic holy sites in the occupied territories.
"We condemn the disturbing escalation of violence by settlers, including the burning of the Nebi Akasha mosque in west Jerusalem and the Burqa mosque in the West Bank. It is clear that these deliberately provocative attacks on places of worship were designed to aggravate tensions," the statement read.
http://fwd4.me/0ivy
Japan Deeply Deplores New Israeli Settlement Plan
TOKYO, (WAFA) – Japan deeply deplored the latest Israeli government plans for the construction of a total of 1,028 new housing units for Jews in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, according to a statement published Wednesday by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
It said the Israeli government’s proceeding with its plan for settlement construction goes against ongoing efforts by the international community to resume negotiations for peace, at a time when the Middle East Quartet and the international community are urging both Israeli and Palestinian sides to resume direct negotiations.
“Settlement activities are a violation of international law, and Japan has repeatedly called upon Israel to fully freeze settlement activities,” said the statement, adding that the government of Japan does not recognize any “unilateral act that prejudges the final status of the territories in the pre-1967 borders.”
Japan called on Israel not to implement its construction plans, for the sake of progress in the peace process, and urged both Palestinian and Israeli sides to act towards boosting mutual trust and continue to make steady efforts for peace.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18437 7 jan 2012, 23:48 , Respect -
Maria 23 dec 2011
Zionist minister: We will annex settlements in response to Palestinian unity
NAZARETH, (PIC)-- A Zionist minister warned Fatah of the consequences of reconciliation with Hamas and threatened that if a Palestinian unity government was formed the Israeli occupation would annex Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
Israeli radio on Friday quoted the Minister of Transport, Yisrael Katz as saying that if a Palestinian national unity government comprising Fatah and Hamas was formed and signed agreements were breached then Israel must take measures to protect its interests, one of these measures is extending its jurisdiction to West Bank settlements and defending them.
“We should be prepared to sever all relations with the Palestinian Authority, if a unity government is formed. We also should stop supporting the establishment of an independent Palestinian state,” he added.
He stressed the importance of guaranteeing the freedom of movement of settlers in West Bank saying that he ordered the railroad company to expedite the building of the line to Ariel settlement, the largest settlement in the northern West Bank.
http://fwd4.me/0j4C
Hamas says it plans to join Fatah-dominated PLO
GAZA CITY (Reuters) -- Rival Palestinian factions took a significant step towards reconciliation Thursday as the Islamist group Hamas said it planned to join President Mahmoud Abbas's Palestine Liberation Organization.
Abbas held a meeting in Cairo with leaders from the factions, including Hamas chief Khalid Mashaal, where a committee was formed to prepare for the inclusion of Hamas, as well as the smaller Islamic Jihad, in the PLO.
There are still some serious obstacles that could prevent a final unity deal and attempts to reconcile in the past have failed.
Hamas and Abbas's Fatah faction have been rivals for years. In 2006, Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in a brief civil war, leaving Fatah dominant in the West Bank.
Hamas has refused to recognize Israel or renounce violence, while the PLO has signed interim peace accords. It was unclear how Hamas would be included in the PLO, given the discrepancy.
The committee will now prepare for an internal election of the PLO parliament in order to facilitate Hamas and the Islamic Jihad membership.
One official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Hamas's Mashaal had told Abbas that his group was "in favor of peaceful resistance and a truce in Gaza and the West Bank at this stage".
The official offered no further explanation on what that might mean. Hamas has said in the past it would agree to a long-term truce with Israel, but remains sworn to its destruction.
A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Abbas's overtures to Hamas hurt the chances for peace and called on the international community not to grant the group legitimacy or recognition.
"Hamas is not a political organization that conducts terrorism. Hamas is a murderous, genocidal terrorist organization to the core," said spokesman Mark Regev.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=447298 7 jan 2012, 23:49 , Respect -
Maria 24 dec 2011
IOA to build 8000 new housing units in O. Jerusalem
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) is to build around 8000 new housing units in occupied Jerusalem over the next five years, a Hebrew weekly magazine said.
Yerushalayim revealed that a plan to this effect was presented by the municipality to the finance committee in the Israeli parliament last week.
The revelation came one day after a group of Israeli lawmakers proposed naming Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the Jewish people.
Ahmed Sub Laban, an expert in settlement activity and a field researcher in Jerusalem, said in a statement on Friday that the new law if endorsed would boost the control of Israel on the holy city.
The Israeli government back in 1980 declared Jerusalem as the “eternal capital of Israel” in a move that was not recognized by the world community.
http://fwd4.me/0j7D 7 jan 2012, 23:49 , Respect -
Maria 28 dec 2011
Presidency Condemns Israeli Decision to Build 130 New Housing Units
JERUSALEM, (WAFA) – Presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh Wednesday condemned the Israeli municipality’s decision to build 130 new housing units in the East Jerusalem settlement of Gilo and a large tourist complex in Silwan neighborhood.
The Israeli municipality Wednesday approved the building of 130 new housing units in the East Jerusalem settlement of Gilo and a Plan to build a large tourist complex in the heart of the Silwan, a neighborhood in the occupied East Jerusalem, according to Pepe Alalu of the left-wing Meretz party.
He said that the Israeli municipality has approved building 130 new housing units in three 12-storey tower blocks in a neighborhood near the northern West Bank city of Bethlehem.
He added that the Municipality also allowed the building of a tourist complex in the heart of the Silwan neighborhood, which will contain more than 250 parking spaces, an archaeological park, reception rooms and a library.
Abu Rudeineh told WAFA that the international quartet is obliged to uphold its responsibilities toward the escalation of settlement activities, considering the settlements illegal.
He stressed that negotiations cannot be resumed without a complete halt of all settlement activities.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18519
Israel OKs building 130 illegal homes
Israel has approved plans for the construction of another 130 Jewish settlement units in the occupied East al-Quds (Jerusalem).
http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/218155.html 7 jan 2012, 23:49 , Respect -
Maria 29 dec 2011
Israeli plans to expand Gilo settlement and build large outposts in Silwan
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Field researcher of settlement activities Ahmed Sub-Laban said the Israeli committee of planning and building intends to build 130 housing units in Gilo settlement south of occupied Jerusalem and build more settlement outposts in Silwan district.
In a report, Sub-Laban stated that this Israeli committee discussed on Wednesday a plan to build these units in Gilo settlement on about six dunums of Palestinian lands annexed earlier from Shurfat village.
He added that the same committee also would discuss on Thursday two other plans to construct two large buildings in the Palestinian neighborhood of Wadi Hilweh in Silwan district, east of Jerusalem.
One building, to be built adjacent to the southern wall of old Jerusalem, will be used mainly for archeological and tourist activities and administrated by the Jewish settlement society Elad, according to the researcher's report.
The second plan is build another large building for tourists and Ir David visitors called Beit Ham'ayan and will be also under the authority of Elad society, the report states.
The researcher noted that the Israeli committee of planning and building would approve on Thursday the three settlement plans and would publish them in Israeli newspapers for public objection before it initiates the construction.
http://fwd4.me/0jMg
France Condemns Israeli Decision to Build 130 New Housing Units
PARIS, (WAFA) - France strongly condemned the decisions taken Wednesday by the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem to authorize the construction of 130 new homes in the settlement of Gilo and a tourist complex in the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan in East Jerusalem, according to a statement by Bernard Valero, Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs spokesperson on Thursday.
He said that France also condemned the agreement concluded by the Israeli government to retroactively legalize the outpost of Ramat Gilad in the northern West Bank. All outposts must be dismantled, as Israel pledged to do so under the 2003 roadmap.
France is deeply concerned by the acceleration in provocative announcements and decisions relating to Israeli settlement activities in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, he said.
In his statement, Valero said, “We reaffirm that all settlement activities are illegal under international law. As France and its European partners on the UN Security Council reaffirmed on December 20, the deliberate and systematic expansion of settlements threatens the two-State solution that is essential to ensuring the long-term security of Israel.”
He concluded that these projects must be abandoned in order to establish between the parties a climate of trust that is conducive to the resumption of direct negotiations.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18533