RAMALLAH, April 19, 2017 (WAFA) – Israel’s expected approval of the construction of 212 new housing units in Pisgat Ze’ev and Ramat Shlomo settlements located near Jerusalem but beyond the 1967 borders is a defiance of the international community’s will and United Nations resolutions, particularly the Security Council’s anti-settlement resolution 2334, the Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

It said in a statement that this move is an attempt to seize more of the occupied Palestinian land and will block American and international efforts to revive serious negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis on the basis of a two-state solution.

The statement emphasized that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right government is attempting to disrupt US-Palestinian relations and talks by creating new facts on the ground.

The ministry called on the international community to shoulder its responsibility toward international resolutions and to take measures to implement resolution 2334, which could save what is left of the two-state solution and press Israel to stop its settlement expansion policy.

K.T./M.K.