Weakening 2-State Solution, Palestine Condemns Israel for Building Large Settlements in West Bank

JAKARTA - The Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority has condemned Israel's official move to begin a major settlement project in the West Bank.

The project, carried out on Palestinian land, is considered a new step by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to obstruct the proposals of many countries to implement the two-state solution. This solution requires Palestine and Israel to live side by side as two independent and sovereign states.

"This undermines the chances of implementing the two-state solution, establishing a Palestinian state on the ground, and fracturing its geographical and demographic unity," the Palestinian Authority's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday local time, as quoted by AFP.

The ministry added that the move will reinforce Israel's practice of dividing the Palestinian territories into isolated areas for easy control.

"Dividing the occupied West Bank into isolated areas and cantons separated from each other, makes it a virtual prison, where movement is only possible through Israeli checkpoints and under the terror of armed settler militias," the Palestinian Authority's Foreign Ministry statement said.

As previously reported, Israel officially began work on a major settlement project in the Palestinian West Bank. This was announced by the Mayor of Maale Adumim, Guy Yifrach.

Israel has long envisioned building the project on approximately 12 square kilometers of land, known as E1, east of Jerusalem, but the plan has stalled for years amid international opposition.