By IRNA,
Berlin : A German Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Monday expressed “concern” over Israeli plan to expand jewish settlements in the West Bank.
Talking at a routine weekly government press briefing, Stefan Bredohl urged Israel to refrain from doing anything which would “disrupt the negotiation process”.
Meanwhile, government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm pointed out German officials had criticized the construction of settlements during their past talks with their Israeli counterparts.
Israel plans to build new settlements in the West Bank, despite mounting international pressure for a halt on settlements in the occupied territories, Israeli media reported last week.
An initial 20 new homes would be built at Maskiyot to accommodate families evacuated from the Gaza Strip in 2005 during Israel’s withdrawal from the salient.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak was expected to authorize the project soon, the Israeli Haaretz newspaper said.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has repeatedly said the construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem posed an obstacle to progress in the Middle East peace process.
Germany’s top diplomat branded the ongoing building of new Jewish settlements as not helpful for the slow-paced Mideast peace talks.
Tel Aviv has faced international criticism over its aggressive settlement policy in the Palestinian territories.
The German government had in the past lashed out at plans by Israel to widen settlements in the West Bank and disputed east Jerusalem, terming it “unacceptable.”
Berlin stressed also that the expansion of the Israeli settlements “questioned the viability of a Palestinian state”.
The US and the European Union had time and again demanded an Israeli settlement construction stop.