RAMALLAH, May 22, 2013 (WAFA) – Israel is receiving US Secretary of State John Kerry with demolition of Palestinian homes, said a Foreign Ministry statement on Wednesday.

Kerry arrived in the region on Tuesday and is expected in Israel on Thursday for talks to re-launch the long-stalled Palestinian-Israeli negotiations.

'The Israeli occupation authorities continue to commit massacres against Palestinian homes in the occupied Palestinian Territory in general and Jerusalem in particular where bulldozers destroyed seven homes in al-Tur and Jabal al-Mukaber neighborhoods of Jerusalem that displaced more than 70 people, and handed demolition orders for seven homes in the village of Um al-Khair, east of Yatta,” said the statement.

The ministry condemned these measures describing them as “hideous crime” and held the Israeli government responsible for any repercussions they will cause.

These acts, it said “are considered a blatant violation of the will of the international community and an intentional escalation to undermine US and international efforts to revive negotiations and the peace process.”

M.S./F.R.