(5 Jun 2014) The United Nations (UN) criticised Israel on Thursday for continuing to build settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem and also called for an end to the blockade of Gaza.
Hussein Haniff, the Malaysian ambassador to the UN, called Israel's settlements "illegal".
"The numbers of illegal settlement is increasing by the weeks and by the months and this is really hindering the peace process for (the) two states solution, because most of these illegal settlements are in the occupied territory," he said at a news conference in Cairo.
He also said it would be difficult for people in Gaza to continue living under present conditions with a blockade still in place.
United Nations' statement came after Israel's housing ministry said on Thursday that it was advancing plans for nearly 1,500 new settlement housing units in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, in response to the formation of a Palestinian unity government backed by the Islamic militant group Hamas.
Tenders were issued on Wednesday for about 900 housing units in the West Bank and about 560 units in east Jerusalem, territories that Israel captured in the 1967 war and which the Palestinians claim for their future state.
The tenders represent the final governmental approval before construction can begin.
The announcement of new settlement building was the first such move since the official end of nine months of US-mediated Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in April.
Find out more about AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]
You can license this story through AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
