Islam Times - US condemns Israel plan to build settler units in East al-Quds

Islam Times - The United States has criticized the Israeli regime’s plan to construct some 1,500 illegal settler units in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

US State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland criticized the Tel Aviv regime on Monday for its decision to construct more settler units in East al-Quds (Jerusalem).

Nuland called on the Israeli authorities to refrain from “unilateral actions,” saying that Washington’s stance regarding the construction of illegal settlement has not changed.

The remarks came after Israel gave the initial approval for the construction plan on Monday.

Mark Toner, State Department’s deputy spokesman, said two weeks ago that Washington “opposes all unilateral actions, including West Bank settlement activity and housing construction in East Jerusalem, as they complicate efforts to resume direct, bilateral negotiations, and risk prejudging the outcome of those negotiations.”

A spokesman for the acting Palestinian Authority (PA) chief, Mahmoud Abbas said the PA would turn to the UN Security Council over Israel’s plan to expand its illegal settlements in the territories.

The Palestinian leaders were about to take “important and necessary measures against Israel’s settlement building, including recourse to the UN Security Council, to prevent implementation of these decisions,” Nabil Abu Rudeineh said.

On December 10, the European Union criticized the Israeli regime over its plan to build thousands more illegal settler units on the occupied territories, saying the bloc is “deeply dismayed” by the move.

More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds.

The settlements are considered illegal by the UN.