The UN envoy for the Middle East Nikolay Mladenov on Monday called on the Israeli authorities to back off from the plan to construct over 1,000 new settlement units in Givat Hamatos.
In a statement sent to Xinhua, Mladenov said, “If these settlement units are built, they will reinforce a ring of settlements between East Jerusalem and Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank.’’
“It would seriously harm the two-state solution, as well as the Palestinians’ dream to establish their independent state on the borders of 1967 with East Jerusalem as the capital of them.’’
He stressed that building settlements is “illegal under international law.’’
Israel’s government on Sunday promoted a plan for new settlement homes in Givat Hamatos, a settlement neighborhood of Jerusalem.
