UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday, September 9, blasted Israel's plans to build new Jewish settler homes in the occupied West bank as a violation of international law.
"Such actions and all settlement activity are contrary to international law and the roadmap," Ban said in a statement on the UN News website, referring to the internationally-backed plan for a two-state solution.
The UN chief expressed “deep concern” over Israel’s recent decision to authorize further construction in settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, informs IslamOnline.net.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak authorized on Monday, September 7, building hundreds of new homes in settlements in the occupied West Bank.
"The Secretary-General urges Israel to respond positively to the important efforts under way to create the conditions for effective Israeli-Palestinian negotiations,” stressed the statement.
Ban Ki-moon also reiterated his call on Israel “to stop all settlement activity, including natural growth, and dismantle all outposts erected since March 2001 in the occupied Palestinian territory."
There are more than 164 Jewish settlements in the West Bank, eating up more than 40 percent of the occupied territory.
Israel’s controversial decision came just days ahead of a planned visit to the region by US Middle East envoy George Mitchell.
The right-wing Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu has resisted calls by the Obama administration to halt settlement building to help restart the stalled peace process.
The international community considers all Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank to be illegal and is pushing for a construction freeze.
Al-Quds Tenders
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| Israel opened tenders to build more 486 settler homes in occupied Al-Quds. (Reuters) |
“Tenders for the project in the neighborhood of Pisgat Zeev were invited at the start of the week after approval by the Israeli housing minister," an Israel Lands Authority official told Agence France-Presse (AFP), speaking on condition of anonymity.
Tenders were first invited in October 2008 but authorities rejected all the bids because of pricing disagreements.
Last month, an Israeli newspaper said the tendering process would now be reopened.
Daniel Seidemann, the founder of Ir Amim, a non-profit organization that seeks to promote coexistence in Al-Quds, criticized the tenders.
He dismissed the bid-taking as yet another example of a fraud that leads to creating facts on the ground even though there is talk of a freeze in settlement construction.
Al-Quds is home to Al-Haram Al-Sharif, which includes Islam's third holiest shrine Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Israel captured and occupied the city in the six-day 1967 war, then annexed it in a move not recognized by the world community or UN resolutions.
Nearly 10 percent of Al-Quds is seized for building additional Jewish settlements, leaving only 13 percent of the original area for the city’s 450, 000 Palestinian inhabitants.
One of the most ambitious settlement plans Israel is contemplating is to build tens of thousands of settlement housing units throughout the remaining area.
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