WEST BANK (Xinhua) – Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit has warned against the implementation of plans by the Zionist regime to build thousands of settlements in the occupied West Bank.
He stressed that such plans undermine a solution by grabbing the lands of the future Palestinian state, according to a statement published on the website of the Arab League.
Aboul-Gheit called on the U.S. administration to take a firm position against the plans in defense of a solution that Washington is promoting, adding that the settlements undermine such efforts.
“It is not possible to talk about reaching a settlement between the Palestinians and the Israelis, or about peace in the region, while the Palestinian territories are being gnawed away every day,” he pointed out.
The statement said the right-wing Zionist cabinet is seeking a U.S. green light to proceed with its plans.
Aboul-Gheit noted that the regime led by Benjamin Netanyahu refuses to be a partner in a peaceful political process leading to a comprehensive settlement, adding that this cabinet is working to satisfy and appease the most extreme wings in the domestic political arena as well as the settlement groups and extremists.
The expansion of settlements in the West Bank, among the thorniest issues between the occupying regime and the Palestinians, has continued despite repeated international calls for construction to stop, even from the occupying regime’s allies, including the United States.
Analysts believe that Israel’s major plans across the occupied territories are essentially aimed at cutting off Palestinian communities from one another and ensuring a Jewish demographic majority.
More than 600,000 Zionists live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East Al-Quds.
All settlements are illegal under international law. The UN Security Council has condemned settlement activities in the occupied territories in several resolutions.
Palestinians want the West Bank as part of a future independent state with East Al-Quds as its capital.
The last round of Zionist-Palestinian talks collapsed in 2014. Among the major sticking points in those negotiations was Israel’s continued illegal settlement expansion.