UN: ISRAELI SETTLEMENT "NOT IN LINE WITH INTERNATIONAL LAW"

Dujarric said that Mr. Ban received a letter from the Palestinian Authority asking the Security Council to hold a meeting on the Israeli settlements. (Photo: MEMO) — **Dujarric said that Mr. Ban received a letter from the Palestinian Authority asking the Security Council to hold a meeting on the Israeli settlements.** (Photo: MEMO)

New York (The UN), 6 Muharram 1436/30 October 2014 (MINA) – Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, said on Tuesday that Israeli settlement activity is against international law.

Replying to a question during a press conference in New York, Dujarric said that Mr. Ban received a letter from the Palestinian Authority asking the Security Council to hold a meeting on the Israeli settlements. He said that “they are waiting to hear from the Presidency of the Council.”

The Secretary General’s position on settlements, he said, are that they “are against international law” and “do not serve the peace process,” according to Middle East Monitor (MEMO) reports quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA), Thursday.

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“The Secretary-General has been very clear in his public statements, in his discussions with the Israeli leadership… [and] with senior Israeli officials here on his position on the settlements… [They are] not helpful to the peace process and was not in line with international law.”

According to Anadolu news agency, the Security Council is to hold a meeting on Wednesday to discuss the issue of Israeli settlement building in the Occupied Palestinians Territories.

On Monday, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a directive to start building 1,060 settlement units in two illegal Israeli settlements in occupied East Jerusalem.

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The previous night, Israeli TV Channel Two revealed an agreement between Netanyahu and the Israeli Economic Minister Naftali Bennett that included the approval of a new settlement project in the West Bank.

Replying to criticism, Netanyahu said: “I heard a claim that our construction in the Jewish settlements of Jerusalem is pushing peace away, it is criticism that is pushing peace away.”

He continued: “We will continue building in Jerusalem, our eternal capital. We have built in Jerusalem, we are building in Jerusalem and will continue building in Jerusalem.” (T/P3/R01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)