Ban Slams ’Israeli’ Settlements

Local Editor

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon slammed the apartheid "Israeli" entity's illegal settlement construction in the occupied Palestinian lands and said Tel Aviv's land grab polices are an obstacle to the so-called peace process.

"I once again reiterate that settlements are illegal under international law and undermine" efforts to find a solution to the "Israeli"-Palestinian conflict, Ban told the Security Council in a regular briefing on Monday.

The UN chief further expressed concerns over demolitions of Palestinian homes by Tel Aviv as well as ongoing violence in the occupied West Bank and said peace seems "more distant" than ever under the current circumstances.

"The creation of new facts on the ground through demolitions and settlement building raises questions about whether "Israel's" ultimate goal is in fact to drive Palestinians out of certain parts of the West Bank, thereby undermining any prospect of transition to a viable Palestinian state," Ban said.

Earlier this month, "Israel" resumed construction work on a new section of its controversial Apartheid Wall separating parts of the West Bank from the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory.

In recent months, "Israeli" forces have uprooted dozens of olive trees of Palestinians and leveled land belonging to a number of families in Beit Jala's Bir Onah area as part of their plans to resume the construction of the wall, which is also close to the illegal "Israeli" Har Gilo settlement.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team