A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas expressed disappointment that the Quartet did not call for full Israeli withdrawal to lines that existed before the Israel captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem in a 1967 war.
Advertisement
Israel approved hundreds of new settlements in the occupied West Bank on Monday in a move likely to further raise tensions following a series of Palestinian attacks.
Upon the announcement that the court’s decision would be carried out, the Israeli Minister for Jerusalem, Ze’ev Elkin, stated, “Anyone who is concerned about the Jewish majority in Israel’s capital can not push a building plan just for Arabs [in Givat HaMatos]…You can not just approve construction for Arabs in Givat HaMatos without also approving at the same time building for Jews in the same planned neighborhood”.
According to the reports, 560 homes will be built in Maale Adumim, a large settlement in the West Bank.
In addition, Ofer Ben Ari was killed by security forces who shot the two Palestinians.
“There is no justification for violence, and the recent deadly attacks on Israelis must be condemned in the strongest possible terms”, the group said in a statement.
Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said Israel will reduce the amount of tax revenues it collects on behalf of the Palestinians each month, saying it would offset money Palestinian officials give to families of attackers.
Early Sunday morning, six Palestinians were arrested in the area, including the sister of the terrorist from Bani Na’im.
The overnight demolitions took place in the Qalandia refugee camp, between Jerusalem and Ramallah, with four Palestinians wounded in ensuing clashes, an AFP reporter said.
The approval comes days after a key global report warned that Israel’s settlement expansion and land confiscation were eroding the possibility of a two-state solution to the conflict.
Israel barred the Palestinian governor of Hebron from entering Israel, after he paid his condolences to the family of a man killed by settlement security after stabbing an Israeli girl to death in her home.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday strongly criticized an Israeli decision to advance settlement plans in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem, reiterating that “settlements are illegal under global law”. Peace talks collapsed in April 2014 and Israeli-Palestinian violence has surged in recent months.
Advertisement
Israel said it welcomed the Quartet’s recognition of Palestinian incitement and violence but it was not happy with the criticism of settlement building.
