US AND EU URGE ISRAELI REGIME TO REVERSE LAND GRAB PLAN
Brussel, 8 Dzulqa’dah 1435 /3 September 2014 (MINA) – The United States and the European Union (EU) have urged the Israeli regime to reverse its plan to grab hundreds of hectares of Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank.
Jen Psaki, the US State department spokeswoman, said Washington is deeply concerned about Israel’s decision to confiscate 400 hectares of land in the Bethlehem area. She said the plan should be canceled immediately.
Similarly, the EU on Tuesday warned Israel against the plan, according to Press TV reports quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA), Wednesday.
“We condemn the new expropriation of land in the West Bank, relating to plans for further settlement expansion,” a spokesman for the EU said, adding, “At this delicate moment, any action that might undermine stability and the prospect of constructive negotiations following the cease-fire in Gaza should be avoided.”
On Monday, a spokesman for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the seizure of such a large swath of land “risks paving the way for further settlement activity, which as the United Nations has reiterated on many occasions is illegal under international law.”
Egypt, which last week mediated a permanent ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip to end a 50-day war, also slammed Israel’s plan.
Israel announced the plan to expropriate 400 hectares (988 acres) of Palestinian land in the Bethlehem area in the south of the West Bank on Sunday.
The Palestinians criticized the decision and called for international action against the Tel Aviv regime.
More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 illegal settlements built since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem) some 47 years ago.
The international community regards all Israeli settlements built on the occupied Palestinian lands as illegal. (T/P002/P3)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
