Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for President Mahmoud Abbas, today condemned the decision of the Israeli occupation authorities to build 730 new housing units in the Israeli settlement of Pesgat Ze’ev in occupied East Jerusalem.
“This decision is evidence that the Israeli government insists on ignoring the resolutions of international legitimacy on the illegality of settlements. The Israeli government is seeking to sabotage all efforts aimed at achieving peace and stability in the region and the world,” said Abu Rudeineh in a statement.
He urged “the international community and in particular the United States to press the Israeli government to stop its unilateral measures that will drag the region into more tension and escalation,” stressing that “Jerusalem, with its Islamic and Christian holy sites and neighborhoods, is a red line that is untouchable.”
Abu Rudeineh warned against Israel’s “exploitation of the international community’s preoccupation with the Russian-Ukrainian crisis to advance settlement projects and steal more Palestinian land,” adding that latest settlement announcements by the Israeli occupation authorities will push the Palestinians “to speed up with the implementation of recent PLO Central Council decisions to protect the rights of our people.”
“All settlements are illegitimate, and are destined to demise. Nothing will bring about a just and lasting peace other than the recognition of the rights of the Palestinian people in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions, by ending the occupation and establishing an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.”