UN peace envoy urges Israel to back off building new settlement units

Xinhua , Monday 16 Nov 2020

UN envoy for the Middle East Nikolay Mladenov stressed that building settlements is "illegal under international law."

Givat Hamatos, a settlement neighborhood of Jerusalem
A general view picture shows part of "Givat Hamatos", an area near East Jerusalem November 15, 2020 (Photo: Reuters)

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 press 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 promoted on Sunday a plan for new settlement homes in Givat Hamatos, a settlement neighborhood of Jerusalem.

Short link: