Palestinians slam Israel plan for settler units in East al-Quds

Palestinian officials have condemned the Tel Aviv regime over its plan for the construction of more settler units in East al-Quds (Jerusalem).

Speaking to reporters in a news conference in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah on Monday, Deputy-Secretary of the Fatah Central Committee Jibril Rajoub stated that the plan would further inflame tensions in East al-Quds.

“Such unilateral acts will lead to an explosion,” he said.

Nabil Abu Rudeina, a spokesman for the Palestinian national unity government, also denounced the measure as a “dangerous escalation” with the potential to create an “earthquake” in the region.

Meanwhile, chief Palestinian Authority negotiator, Saeb Erekat, said Israel’s move to construct over 1,000 illegal settler units in East al-Quds strengthens the Palestinian leadership’s resolve to speed up efforts to approach the UN Security Council and to join the International Criminal Court.

“Everything (Benjamin) Netanyahu is doing are war crimes, which must be tried according to international law,” Erekat added, calling on Washington to “rethink its biased position” toward Tel Aviv.

Earlier on Monday, the Israeli cabinet approved plans for the construction of 1,060 new settler units in East al-Quds amid mounting criticism of the expansionist policies of the Tel Aviv regime.

More than half a million Israelis live in more than 120 settlements built since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank including East al-Quds in 1967.

Much of the international community considers the Israeli settlements illegal.