Palestinians say the attacks stem from frustration at almost five decades of Israeli military rule. Nearly daily stabbings, shootings and car-ramming attacks by Palestinians have killed 25 Israelis and a US citizen.
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Even the United States, a long time ally of Israel, spoke out against the building of illegal settlements in Palestinian territory, with U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power saying they were “strongly opposed” to these Israeli activities. The Palestinian terrorists don’t want to build a state, they want to destroy a state, and they state that proudly.
“They want to murder Jews everywhere and they state that proudly. They do not murder for peace and they do not murder for human rights”.
In Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Ban of “encouraging terror” over his remarks on the occupation.
In the debate on Tuesday, Israeli Permanent Representative Danny Danon said, “Sitting down and talking is the first step to peace, but the Palestinians refuse to come to the table”.
Peace Now said on December 28 that Israel was working to revive and extend plans for new Jewish settler homes in the contentious area of the occupied West Bank known as E1.
Lauder said: “I deeply regret the United Nations secretary general’s risky justification of terrorism and the murder of Jews”.
A chief grievance of the Palestinians was settlement building on land they claim for a future state.
The Palestinians, on their part, charge Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, ongoing since 1967, and the dim prospects of establishing a Palestinian state in these territories in accordance with the two-state solution, are to blame for the upsurge in violence.
Army ban Last week the army barred Palestinian labourers from entering settlements but the ban was soon lifted because most settlements rely on Palestinian construction workers.
About 150 Palestinians, along with 26 Israelis and an American tourist, have been killed since October 1st. The woman, identified in Israeli media as Shlomit Krigman, was one of two Israelis to be targeted in an attack carried out by two Palestinians on Monday, both of whom were shot dead by an Israeli security guard while fleeing the scene.
Today, some 380,000 Israelis live in 135 West Bank settlements, with another 200,000 in east Jerusalem.
The UN secretary-general called Israeli settlement activities “provocative acts” that raised questions about Israel’s commitment to a two-state solution.
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Oren, now a member of Knesset, took issue with Ban’s statement on Tuesday referring to terrorism as a reaction to occupation that is embedded in “human nature”.
