A general view shows a Jewish settlement near Jerusalem known to Israelis as Har Homa and to Palestinians as Jabal Abu Ghneim October 27, 2014. [Photo: Imagine China]
Abbas Requests Urgent UN Security Council Meeting over Settlements
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is calling for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss Israeli settlement expansion in Jerusalem.
The call has been made following an announcement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for expediting the plans for a thousand new Israeli homes in East Jerusalem.
"There is a public consensus that Israel has the full right to build in the Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem and in the settlement blocks. This is the basis of a consensus. All the governments of Israel in the past 50 years have done so."
Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah.
"All the Israeli violations, all these settlements, everything that the occupation is doing in this area - is illegitimate. It is confirmed by the judgment of history that any occupation in the world has an end."
East Jerusalem has been tapped by the Palestinians as the planned capital of a Palestinian state.
As such, any Israeli settlements in the city are viewed as an attempt by Israel to undermine plans for potential Palestinian statehood.
