Israel OKs dozens of new settler units despite intl. outrage
Iran Press TV
Mon May 26, 2014 3:55PM GMT
Israel has approved plans to build dozens of new settler units in the occupied East al-Quds (Jerusalem) despite international outcry over its settlement activities.
Israeli regime says at least 50 units will be built in Har Homa settlement.
'The municipality has given the green light to build 50 new housing units in five buildings in Har Homa,' media outlets quoted the city councilor, Yosef Pepe Alalu, as saying on Monday.
No further details have been released about the planned construction.
Israel's settlements are considered illegal under international law. However, Tel Aviv is expanding settlement projects on occupied Palestinian territories in defiance of international calls to stop them.
The settlement projects are also a main obstacle to the so-called 'peace talks' between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
Palestinian-Israeli talks have broken down several times in recent years after Tel Aviv refused to freeze its settlement activities in the occupied West Bank.
Palestinians are seeking to create an independent state on the territories of the West Bank, East al-Quds (Jerusalem), and the besieged Gaza Strip and are demanding that Israel withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territories.
The presence and continued expansion of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine has created a major obstacle to establish peace in the Middle East.
More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 illegal settlements built since Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds in 1967.
The United Nations and most countries regard the Israeli settlements as illegal because the territories were captured by Israel in a war in 1967 and are hence subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbid construction on the occupied lands.
JR/AB/SS
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