UN denounces "Israeli" settlement plan

Source: alalam.ir, 11-03-2008
UNITED NATIONS-UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has criticized the "Israeli" occupying regime for planning to build housing units in a West Bank settlement.
Ban said the decision conflicts with "‘Israel's' obligation under the roadmap" for Middle East settlement.
Palestinians want all settlement construction frozen, saying it undermines negotiations on creating an independent state out of the territory that "Israel" captured from Jordan in the 1967 Six Day War.
International Community has condemned the Zionist regime's newly announced settlement plans as a move to bog down upcoming Middle East talks.
The occupying regime's settlement activities have long been a major bone of contention in efforts to bring peace to the region.
In December, "Israeli" Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ordered his cabinet not to start any new construction projects in the West Bank without his approval.
That announcement came after Palestinian officials expressed outrage that the Zionist regime's proposed funding for 2008 included construction plans in Ma'aleh Adumim, which is part of the West Bank, and Har Homa which Palestinians refer as Jabal Abu Ghneim.
The dispute over settlement construction poses a new challenge to efforts at reviving settlement negotiations after Palestinians walked out of the talks two weeks ago.
Ban expressed concern over "Israel's" decision to resume construction.
"Any settlement expansion is contrary to ‘Israel's' obligations under the road map and to international law. The secretary-general calls on the government of ‘Israel' to halt settlement expansion and reiterates that the fulfillment of road map obligations by both parties is an important measure underpinning the political process between them."
"Israel" claimed the decision to increase the Gival Zeev settlement by 330 housing units was made nine years ago.
On Sunday, Olmert gave final approval "for economic reasons that have to do with the developers," his spokesman, Mark Regev, told CNN.
Palestinians "condemn" "Israel's" decision to expand the Gival Zeev settlement, Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erakat has said. "It is like putting a stick in the wheels of the peace process."