Abbas says E1 Settlement Project will Never Happen

Ramallah, 10 Shafar 1434/23 December 2012 (WAFA/MINA) – President Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday that Israel’s plan to build the E1 settlement project on the outskirts of East Jerusalem “is a red line and we will not allow it to happen.”

Speaking at the opening session of the Fatah Advisory Council, Abbas said that “we are holding contacts on all levels to stop this Israeli project that aims to sabotage the peace process.”

He said that the settlements, which he stressed that in all their forms and shapes are illegitimate and illegal and are not acceptable, should be removed to achieve peace and stability in the region.

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“The entire world oppose settlements and say they are illegal,” he said. “International resolutions say settlements are an obstacle to peace and therefore they should be stopped in total in all the Palestinian territories, particularly in occupied Jerusalem, in order to resume serious and real negotiations on all final status issues to reach a comprehensive and just peace.”

He said that the Palestinian leadership “was considering all options if Israel persists in its settlement activities, dictates, blockade and withholding the Palestinian people’s money.”

Abbas called on the international community to force Israel to release the Palestinian money to help the Palestinian Authority overcome its financial crisis and meet its obligations toward its people.

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Abbas also called on Hamas to allow the Central Elections Commission to resume work in the Gaza Strip, stressing that elections “are the real gate to reconciliation.”

He also denied reports about confederation between Jordan and Palestine, stressing that efforts are focusing on establishing a fully sovereign Palestinian state on the 1967 borders. (T/R-018/R-008/R-006)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)