United Nations/Prensa Latina
The UN special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, condemned this Thursday the progress of Israel’s plans to build more than three thousand housing units in the West Bank. The expansion of Israel’s settlements continues to be a factor in conflict in the occupied West Bank, the representative warned in a statement released here.
These plans, he added, further entrench the occupation and undermine the Palestinians’ right to self-determination and an independent state.
Wennesland reiterated that all settlements are illegal under international law while urging Tel Aviv authorities to cease these activities and refrain from “provocative actions.”
His statements rejected the announcement by the Israeli National Planning and Construction Council, which gave the “green light” to the construction of 3,476 housing units in that area.
The authorization includes 2,452 units in Maale Adumim, 694 in Efrat and 330 in Kedar, which ignores international regulations that consider settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem illegal.
This Thursday, the European Union (EU) and the United States Department of States agreed that the project hinders peace efforts in the Middle East.
“The expansion of the settlements is completely inconsistent with the efforts underway to reduce tensions, which is even more important on the eve of the upcoming religious holidays of Ramadan, Passover and Easter,” the representative of the European bloc for Foreign Policy and Common Security, Josep Borrell.
The diplomat assured that the EU’s position remains unchanged: it will not recognize any change in the pre-1967 borders.
For his part, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller described the expansion of settlements as an “obstacle” in the negotiations, considering that they “not only harm the Palestinian people, but ultimately weaken Israel’s security.” ”.
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