The appeal came after Israel declared 234 hectares of West Bank territory to be state land, fuelling concerns of a new spike in tensions with the Palestinians.
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In a report by Peace Now, a leftist Israeli NGO, on the “land grab”, the organization said that Israel’s intention was to prevent Palestinian expansion and build up Jewish settlements in the area.
WASHINGTON • The United States has unveiled sweeping measures to make it easier for Americans to visit Cuba and for the island’s communist government to conduct long-restricted global trade, as President Barack Obama prepared for a historic trip to Havana next week.
The group said plans for expanding illegal Jewish settlements and building tourism and other commercial facilities in the area were already on Israel’s drawing board. “As we have said before, we strongly oppose any steps that accelerate settlement expansion, which raise serious questions about Israel’s long-term intentions”.
State Department spokesman John Kirby addressed the conversion of the West Bank land to state land when asked about it during a briefing with reporters on Tuesday afternoon.
“This declaration is a de-facto confiscation of Palestinian lands for the objective of settlement”, a statement said.
“Settlements constitute a violation of global law and contradict commitments made by Israeli authorities in favor of a two-state solution”.
Palestinians seek diplomatic and economic recognition for their independent state on the territories of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which is partially occupied by Israel, and the Gaza Strip.
“All people in Israel and Palestine have a right to live in peace and security”.
Kirby told reporters that in order to arrive at a two-state solution “both sides must be willing to take the steps necessary to ratchet down the violence, to tone down the rhetoric, and through policy and decisions and actual actions, move that process forward”.
Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat on Tuesday called on the global community to press Israel to stop land confiscations.
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Israel, however, does not see the settlement issue as the main obstacle to peace, pointing instead to the fact that though the PA has been offered many generous deals, it has rejected all of them.
