MIDDLE EAST QUARTET TO MEET IN MUNICH ON SUNDAY

Brussels, 19 Rabiul Akhir 1435/9 February 2015 (MINA) – The European Union’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said on Sunday she had called an immediate meeting of the Quartet of Middle East peace mediators in Munich, in an effort to revive the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson and the EU’s Mogherini – whose countries and organisations make up the Quartet – were all attending the Munich Security Conference and were expected to take part, Worldbulletin quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

“We need a collective rethinking of our overall approach to the conflict. The Quartet will prepare for a resumption of the peace process, including regular and direct outreach to Arab states,” Mogherini told the conference.

The new issue this week, Israeli channel 7 reported their building committee on Sunday approved the construction of 64 settlement units in occupied East Al Quds (Jerusalem).

The Jerusalem Local Planning and Building Committee approved the building of 64 units in the Jewish-only Ramot settlement.

The panel said that the construction has already been approved months ago, but permits were re-approved following slight planning changes.

Israel occupied East Al Quds during the 1967 Middle East War. It later annexed the historic city in 1980, claiming it as the capital of the self-proclaimed Jewish state in a move never recognized by the international community.

International law views the West Bank and East Al Quds  as occupied territories and considers all Jewish settlement building on the land to be illegal.

Palestinians accuse Israel of waging an aggressive campaign to “Judaize” the city with the aim of effacing its Arab and Islamic identity and ultimately driving out its Palestinian inhabitants. (T/R03/P3)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)