By NNN-KUNA
Cairo : Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa has condemned the recently-announced Israeli plan to build 307 new Jewish settlements on Jebel Ghoneim (known in Hebrew as Har Homa) in southeast Jerusalem.
“The decision of the Israeli government is a flagrant violation of the understandings reached at the recent Annapolis conference,” Moussa said in a press release here Sunday.
“It also runs counter to the international law and the UN resolutions declaring East Jerusalem and the West Bank occupied territories,” he said.
“The move sends an unfortunate signal ahead of the start of final status talks between the Palestinians and Israel, due on Wednesday.
“It casts doubts on the true intentions of Israel which said it was committed to the understandings of Annapolis meeting and UN resolutions.
“The success of the final status talks hinges on taking immediate steps to halt all Jewish settlement activities, remove checkpoints, and lift the siege on the Palestinian people,” the Arab League chief said.
“The Israeli move undermines the efforts to build confidence among the parties to the Middle East peace conference,” Moussa said.
He urged the United States — the sponsor of the Annapolis meeting — the international Quartet and the United Nations particularly the Security Council to take steps to prevent Israel from going ahead with its plans.