Furthermore, the committee retroactively approved 179 housing units in Beit Arie which have already been built without permits.
Advertisement
The committee has also advanced plans for a senior citizens’ home of 234 housing units in the settlement of Elkana.
“Not only that the Netanyahu government does not believe in a two states solution, it is actively trying to kill it by building more and more in the settlements”, a spokesperson with Peace Now said in a statement.
“These policies have effectively given the Israeli government’s green light for the pervasive advancement of settlement activity in a new and potentially unlimited way”, Kirby warned.
The United States has rebuked Israel for the Jewish nation’s plans to accelerate building of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank in the face of mounting worldwide concern.
But the senior United States official warned the Israeli government risks undermining its own case with its aggressive settlement program and a “dramatic acceleration” in its demolition of Palestinian buildings. From the Global Affairs Canada website under Occupied Territories and Settlements: “As referred to in UN Security Counsel Resolutions 446 and 465, Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention”. “This appears to reinforce a policy, carried out over decades, that has enabled over half a million Israelis to settle in territory that was occupied militarily in 1967”.
“We are particularly troubled by a policy of retroactively approving illegal outposts in unauthorized settlements”.
Israel says Jews have been in those areas for centuries, and that their presence there does not undermine prospects for peace.
Israeli soldiers hold a position in a street, east of the West Bank city of Nablus, on 3 October 2015.
As tens of thousands of Palestinian children across occupied East Jerusalem begin a new school year on September 1, teachers, parents and human rights groups have raised concerns over a controversial funding proposal that would only benefit schools that drop the Palestinian curriculum in favour of an Israeli equivalent.
Several attempts have been made by the U.S.to broker peace talks between Israel and Palestine, but there are now no indications any progress will be made.
Advertisement
Responding to Mladenov’s comments, Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah called on the worldwide community to put pressure on Israel to stop settlement activity.
