News / Palestine

We won’t stop construction in Jerusalem al-Quds settlements, Netanyahu says

Wednesday, 22 March 2017 1:07 AM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 22 March 2017 1:07 AM ]

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during his meeting with China's President Xi Jinping (not shown in the picture) at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China, on March 21, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to press ahead with building new settler units, stressing that the Tel Aviv regime has no plan to limit settlement construction in occupied East Jerusalem al-Quds.

Netanyahu told Israeli reporters during his visit to the Chinese capital city of Beijing on Tuesday that talks between Israeli and American negotiators in the White House over limiting settlement constructions are off the table.

The remarks came less than a week after the Israeli prime minister said he would fulfill his promise to build a new settlement in the occupied West Bank for the first time in more than 20 years.

He said the new settlement will be built to replace Amona outpost, which was razed last month after the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that the structures built on privately-owned Palestinian land had to be removed.

"To the settlers of Amona, I repeat, I gave you a commitment to build a new settlement and I will honor my commitment," Netanyahu said.

A general view taken on March 9, 2017, shows the Israel settlement of Migdal Oz, north of the occupied West Bank town of al-Khalil (Hebron). (Photo by AFP)

On December 23, 2016, United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 2334 that calls on Israel to “immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem” al-Quds.

It also states that Israel's settlement construction has “no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law."

About 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 illegal settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem al-Quds.

Palestinians want the West Bank as part of a future independent Palestinians state, with East Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital.

Since the inauguration in January of US President Donald Trump, who is a steadfast supporter of Israel, the Tel Aviv regime has stepped up its construction of settler units on occupied Palestinian land in a blatant violation of international law.

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