PALESTINIAN PRESIDENCY CONDEMNS ISRAELI DECISION TO BUILD 272 NEW HOUSES UNITS

Ramallah, 6 Rabi’ul Awwal 1435/8 January 2014 (MINA) – Presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh Tuesday condemned the latest Israeli Occupation decision to build 272 new housing units in the West Bank illegal settlements.

“Whenever US secretary of state John Kerry intensifies his efforts to push the peace process forward, Israel seeks to destroy these efforts through its decisions and its ongoing settlement activities,” Abu Rudeineh said, according to official news agency Wafa as quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA).

He also condemned Israeli Occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s latest statements regarding his opposition to evacuate the settlement outposts which lie outside the settlement blocs in Hebron and Beit Eil, near Ramallah.

Netanyahu said on Saturday, during the Likud faction meeting  in the Knesset, that he opposes the evacuation of settlement outposts that lie outside the settlement blocks in Hebron and Beit Eil and that he will not give up any settlements, describing the west bank areas as home.

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Earlier, Palestinian National Initiative general-secretary Mustafa Barghouthi said Israel is using negotiations as a cover to continue settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank.

Israel’s recent approval of 272 new settlement homes shows the true face of an Israeli government which refuses the idea of Palestinian sovereignty and is only seeking to buy time to impose certain realities on the ground, the independent Palestinian MP said.

The proper response to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claims that Hebron and Beit El settlements are a vital part of Israel is through escalating popular resistance, going to the United Nations, and increasing calls for boycott, divestment and sanctions, he added.

Netanyahu told members of his Likud party on Monday that he did not intend to dismantle settlements in the West bank as part of peace talks with the Palestinians, the private Israeli television station Channel 10 reported.

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Asked by party hardliners about any possible concessions in the talks, Netanyahu said he would make no “territorial concession” in the Jordan Valley, the occupied West Bank or in annexed East Jerusalem, the station reported.

Netanyahu also said that Israel would not provide what he called “concessions” in peace talks with the Palestinians, and will never withdraw from the occupied Jordan Valley, Jerusalem, and various parts of the West Bank.

Kerry left Israel on Monday after his tenth trip to the region since last March, insisting progress had been made despite failing to reach a framework to guide Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, said before leaving the Middle East on Monday, following four days of extensive talks with Israeli, Palestinian and Arab officials, that he was unable to convince Israel and the Palestinians to accept his proposed peace plan.

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Kerry did not denounce Israel’s illegal settlement construction and expansion activities, but only repeated previous statements saying, “The US considers settlements to be illegitimate”.

The US continues to grant Israeli billions of dollars in direct and indirect annual financial and military support, and is not observed as a fair mediator in direct peace talks due to its special ties with Tel Aviv.

It is worth mentioning that there are more than 350.000 Israeli settlers living in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, in addition to more than 200.000 settlers living in and around occupied East Jerusalem.(T/P02/P04)

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Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)