clear

Creating new perspectives since 2009

US: Israel’s construction of 900 settlements in East Jerusalem is ‘a disappointing development’

May 8, 2015 at 11:19 am

US State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said that the Jerusalem District Planning Committee’s approval of the construction of 900 settlement units in East Jerusalem is “a disappointing development”.

Speaking in a press briefing yesterday, Rathke said: “We have continued to reiterate that we are strongly opposed to the steps by the Israeli authorities to advance construction in East Jerusalem. This is a disappointing development, and we’re concerned about it.”

The American official stressed that the Israeli officials are claiming that they are committed to resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict based on a two-state solution, adding that we “need to see that commitment in the actions of the Israeli government. Moving forward with construction of housing units in east Jerusalem is damaging and inconsistent with that commitment.”

He added: “We continue to engage with the highest levels of the Israeli government, and we continue to make our position clear that we view this as illegitimate.”

On Wednesday Israeli authorities announced the construction of 900 settlement units in the Ramat Shlomo neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem.

The issue of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem is an “obstacle” hindering the peace negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis which stopped in late April. This was due to Israel’s refusal to release the last batch of long-serving prisoners, which was scheduled for March 2014. This was followed by Palestine’s joining of 15 treaties and international agreements, a move that was condemned by Tel Aviv and it threatened to take action against Palestine.

Palestinians call for the freezing of settlement activity but this is refused by the Israeli government.