Heating Up Again, Palestinians Condemn Israeli Settlement Construction in the West Bank

JAKARTA - The Palestinians on Saturday, October 16 condemned the construction of new Israeli settlements on Palestinian-owned land south of the West Bank city of Nablus.

The construction of the new settlements "disrupts opportunities for peace based on the vision of a two-state solution," the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"The new project includes the construction of a bus station for Israeli settlers between Ramallah and Nablus in order to facilitate mobility as well as connect roads with Israel," he said, quoted by Antara, Sunday, October 17.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry added that Israel's new settlements in the West Bank "fit into the context of Israel's efforts and they are in a race against time to annex the West Bank."

The ministry noted that the projects aim to sabotage the chances of a viable and sovereign Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Based on Israeli and Palestinian estimates, about 650,000 Israelis live in 164 settlements and 124 outposts in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Israeli settlements are the most complicated issue in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and one of the main reasons why the last round of direct peace talks between the two sides in 2014 stalled.