Brussels, 17/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - The head of the European diplomatic corps, Catherine Ashton has condemned Israeli plans to build new housing in annexed East Jerusalem as “unacceptable”, and said, in a statement issued on Sunday 16 October, that the move runs counter to commitments made by Israel.
The plan for the construction of 2,600 new housing units in the settlement of Givat Hamatos runs “against roadmap obligations”, EU High Representative Ashton regrets. The roadmap is a plan drafted by the Middle East Quartet (United States, European Union, UN and Russia) designed to lead to the creation of a Palestinian state. “Settlements are illegal under international law”, Ashton stated before going on to call on Israel to bring an end to all new settlement.
On Friday 14 October, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon accused Israel of provoking the international community following news of the plan to build a new settlement in East Jerusalem. The proposed constructions in Givat Hamatos “are of particular concern as they would cut the geographic contiguity between Jerusalem and Bethlehem”, Ashton said. At a time when the Quartet is trying to bring about a resumption of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, Ashton said that settlement construction was contrary to “Israel's stated commitment” to this process. “Both parties (Israel and the Palestinians) are responsible for the creation of an environment of trust conducive to negotiations”, Ashton stated.
On 23 September, the Quartet proposed resumption of peace negotiations, with a view to concluding a final agreement by the end of 2012. It brought forward its proposal on the same day as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas submitted the request for a Palestinian state to join the United Nations. The Palestinian Authority had warned that it would refuse any resumption of direct talks after Israel ended its freeze of settlement building in September 2010. (LC/transl.rt)