We strongly condemn Israel's approval to build a total of 3000 additional housing units in East Jerusalem and in the West Bank, furthering its illegal Jewish settlement activities on the territory of the State of Palestine, which is under Israeli occupation.

With these illegal settlement activities that trample on the international law, Israel deliberately destroys the grounds for a lasting and just peace. This indicates that the Israeli government has failed to perceive prudently the resolution adopted on 29 November by an overwhelming majority of the members of the United Nations General Assembly on granting Palestine “non-member observer state” status. It is revealing that Israel approved building of 3000 additional houses on the very day that Palestine was accorded “non-member observer state” status at the UN General Assembly. It also demonstrates Israel’s provocative stance and lack of goodwill.

Israel must understand that it will never achieve its desired objectives by pursuing unilateral policies. In this context, we call upon Israel to fulfill its obligations in accordance with the international law for a lasting peace in the Middle East and to put an end immediately to all of its activities destroying the grounds for peace.

We call upon the international community to emphasize more strongly that these unilateral illegal activities will not be accepted as they destroy the two-state solution perspective and to take the necessary measures to effect a change in this stance that is harming peace and stability in the region.