Foreign Ministry slams settlement building decision

The Foreign Ministry Wednesday condemned an Israeli decision to build thousands of housing units and an 1100-room hotel on occupied land of East Jerusalem, and called on the Quartet to immediately intervene to stop what it described as the dangerous deterioration in the situation. The ministry issued a statement calling on the Quartet to take serious measures to force Israel to stop settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian Territory in order to preserve the peace process and the principle of the two-state solution. The Foreign Ministry considered the Israel escalation as a “violation of basic Palestinian humanitarian, civil and political rights,” and urged international human rights organizations and the United Nations to condemn it. It reiterated President Mahmoud Abbas’ call on Arab and Muslim nations to visit and support Jerusalem to counter Israeli efforts to change the Islamic and Arab character of the city.