State Dept. criticizes Israeli settlement expansion, demolitions
(Worthy News) – The Israeli government’s plans to build new units in Jewish settlements in the West Bank and a spate of home demolitions in Palestinian areas over the past week have drawn sharp criticism from the Obama administration.
Israel “is systematically undermining the prospects for a two-state solution” with the Palestinians, State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement Wednesday.
“We strongly oppose settlement activity, which is corrosive to the cause of peace,” the statement said. [ Source ]
UN: Israel ‘systematically’ emptying Area C of Palestinians
In a bid to force Palestinians to leave their homes, Israel is creating miserable humanitarian conditions in the parts of the West Bank that are under its full control, a UN official warned in Jerusalem on Wednesday.
Natalie Grove, a representative of the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said Israeli policy in Area C, where Palestinians live under full IDF martial law, creates a “highly coercive environment that forces [Palestinians] to leave.”
This policy, she charged, is “systematic and comprehensive.”
The Israeli government “categorically” denied any mistreatment of Palestinians. [ Source ]