We condemn the decision by Israel to implement the plans for the construction of 2,610 new housing units at the Givat Hamatos settlement area in East Jerusalem.

As stressed in our press release in 2012 (no. 292) at the beginning of the said planning process in Givat Hamatos, both Turkey and the international community have been well aware of the fact that Israel’s settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory and its other unilateral practices that are in violation of the international law aim to alter the historical, social, cultural and religious fabric of Palestine, especially that of East Jerusalem. These activities are null and void under the international law and shall never be accepted.

Israel should take into account the calls of the international community and without delay stop such steps that undermine the basis of the two-state solution at the 1967 borders.