RAMALLAH, August 3, 2017 (WAFA) – Presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh condemned on Thursday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s inauguration of a project to build 1,000 housing units in the illegal settlement of Bitar Ellit, near Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank.

Abu Rudeineh also condemned Israel’s announcement of its intention to evict a Palestinian family in the occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah for the benefit of Israeli settlers.

“Settlements are basically illegal and the Israeli government has to immediately stop its destructive approach to the two-state solution,” he said in a statement.

Abu Rudeineh condemned Netanyahu’s remarks in which he described the West Bank and East Jerusalem as land of Israel, stressing that “the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip are occupied Palestinian territory and not land of Israel, as Netanyahu claimed in his remarks.”

He called on the international community, especially the United States, to immediately intervene to stop Israel’s settlement activities, which he said undermine efforts by US President Donald Trump to achieve peace in the region.

The presidential spokesman said that Israeli settlement activities increase tension that could lead to uncontrollable consequences.

M.N./M.K.