Netanyahu Defies Global Outcry, Says Building Illegal Settlements will Continue

“We firmly reject the pressure not to build in Jerusalem. To my regret, this pressure has been increasing of late,” Netanyahu said during a televised address.

Netanyahu repeated his hugely-controversial claim of occupied Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s undivided capital. Palestinians want the holy city as their capital.

“I say also to the best of our friends: Jerusalem (al-Quds) is Israel’s capital and just as every nation builds in its capital and builds up its capital, we also have the right to build in Jerusalem and to build up Jerusalem. That is what we have done and that is what we will continue to do,” he added.

His remarks come amid worldwide condemnation of displacement of Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in the occupied East Jerusalem al-Quds, with tensions triggering daily confrontations there.

The provocations recently took a dangerous turn after the forces attacked Palestinian homes in East al-Quds’ Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.

The Israeli aggressors were trying to prompt the Palestinians to abandon their residences there. The regime had earlier issued warnings that they had to evacuate their homes.

Since the beginning of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, the Israeli forces and illegal Israeli settlers have been roaming the city, chanting anti-Palestinian slogans and trying to prevent Palestinians from gathering and performing their religious duties.

Early in the month, the Israeli regime also shut down Bab al-Amoud (Damascus Gate) of the al-Quds’ Old City, further enraging Palestinians.

In the most recent incidents of violence on Sunday, as many as 100 more Palestinians were wounded on the al-Aqsa Mosque compound and elsewhere in the holy occupied city of Jerusalem al-Quds as the Israeli regime sustained its brutal attacks against the Palestinians there.

The Palestinian Red Crescent emergency service said some 205 Palestinians had been wounded on Friday after Israeli forces attacked hundreds of Palestinians worshipers on the compound with rubber bullets, tear gas, and stun grenades.

The center has said most of those, who have been injured during the two days of clashes, have been targeted in the eye and the face.

Also on Friday, Israeli forces gunned down two Palestinians and wounded a third, accusing them of opening fire on a base belonging to the Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank, where al-Quds is located.