JORDAN, Monday, December 2, 2019 (WAFA) - Jordan condemned the Israeli occupation authorities’ approval to construct a new colonial settlement in the heart of the southern West Bank flashpoint city of Hebron, calling on the international community to shoulder its responsibilities and put an end to Israeli settlement construction.

Jordanian Foreign Minister, Ayman Safadi, said in a statement that Jordan condemns the latest settlement projects announcement by Israeli authorities in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabal al-Mukaber, Qalandia to the north of the occupied city of Jerusalem, and in the Old City of Hebron in the southern occupied West Bank, slamming such plans as illegal measures that violate international law and undermine efforts to achieve peace.

He stressed the need for the international community to assume its legal and moral responsibilities and put an end to settlement activities.

Safadi warned against Israel‘s continued construction and expansion of settlements, which undermine the two-state solution which is the only only way to resolve the conflict, and kill any chances for a comprehensive and lasting peace.

The new Israeli Defense Minister, Naftali Bennett, approved on Saturday the planning of a new settler neighborhood in the wholesale market area in the city of Hebron, in the southern occupied West Bank.

This came only weeks after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the Jewish settlements in occupied Jerusalem and the West Bank are not inconsistent with international law, despite the fact that they totally contradict with United Nations resolutions on settlements, specifically Security Council resolution 2334 of 2016.

T.R.