Palestine slams Israel's plan to build new settlement units

Ramallah, Aug 13 Palestine said it rejects and condemns the Israeli government's recent plan to build 2,200 new settlement units in the West Bank.

"The move is in violation of all international legitimacy resolutions, mainly the UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which clearly affirms the illegality of building settlements in all the Palestinian territories," said a statement issued here on Thursday by President Mahmoud Abbas' office.

The statement said the Israeli plan contradicts the Oslo peace accords signed between Israel and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1993, reports Xinhua news agency.

"Any Israeli settlement construction in the occupied Palestinian territory will not be allowed or be legalised," it added.

The statement also called on the US and the international community "to work seriously and immediately to stop the Israeli persistence, which, if it continues, will increase tension and instability".

On Wednesday, it was reported that the Israeli civil administration's higher planning and building council will convene next week for the first time in seven months to approve the new plan to build 2,200 settlement units in the West Bank.

Israel captured territories in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which are claimed by the Palestin, in the 1967 Middle East war and has controlled them ever since.

The Jewish settlements are considered a violation of international law by most of the international community.

Official Palestinian figures said that more than 600,000 Jews live in about 140 settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.