Turkey yesterday denounced an Israeli plan to build over 1200 new illegal housing settlements south of Jerusalem. He stressed that the Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories violate international law.
“Israel, which recently approved the construction of 108 additional illegal settlements in East Jerusalem, continues to violate international law and infringe upon the rights of the Palestinian people by its decision to construct new illegal settlements which consists of 1257 housing units in East Jerusalem,” said a Turkish Foreign Ministry statement.
“It is clear that Israel is trying to prevent the establishment of a contiguous, independent and sovereign State of Palestine by building additional illegal settlements between East Jerusalem and the West Bank,” it said.
Israel yesterday opened bidding for the construction of Givat Hamatos settlement, north of Bethlehem, that would cut the biblical city of occupied East Jerusalem and ends the prospects for a future contiguous Palestinian state.
“On this day that we celebrate the thirty-second anniversary of the foundation of the State of Palestine, we reaffirm that the Palestinian territories belong to the Palestinian people, and we invite all members of the international community who support the vision of a two-state solution, to stand against Israel’s aggressive actions,” said the Turkish Foreign Ministry statement.