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"These actions stoke tensions, cause suffering and further undermine trust," Ban said. (Reuters) |
CAIRO — UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has asked Israel to end its "provocative actions" against Palestinians in Al-Quds (occupied east Jerusalem) and halt all its illegal settlement activities.
"The Secretary-General is dismayed at continued Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem, including the demolition of Palestinian homes, the eviction of Palestinian families and the insertion of settlers into Palestinian neighborhoods," his office said in a statement cited by Haaretz on Wednesday, November 4.
The statement came in reaction to the eviction of a Palestinian family from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Al-Quds on Tuesday, November 3.
Dozens of Jewish settlers broke into the closed part of Al-Kurds house owned by an 85-year-old woman and threw the family onto the street.
"These actions stoke tensions, cause suffering and further undermine trust," the UN chief said.
"Israel (has) to cease such provocative actions."
Israel occupied the holy city in the 1967 war and later annexed it in a move not recognized by the international community or UN resolutions.
Since then, Israel has adopted a series of oppressive measures to force the Palestinians out of the city, home to Al-Haram Al-Sharif, which includes Islam's third holiest shrine, including systematic homes demolitions.
Earlier this year, the occupation authorities issued demolition orders for more than 88 houses in Silwan neighborhood of the city.
A recent UN report has also warned that thousands of Palestinian houses in Al-Quds are facing the risk of mass demolitions by Israel.
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| "Settlements are illegal in our view and an obstacle to peace," Miliband said. (Reuters) |
Halt Settlements
Ban Ki-moon also urged Israel to stop all its illegal settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian land.
He asked Israel to abide by its obligations under the internationally-backed roadmap peace plan "by freezing all settlement activity, including natural growth; dismantling outposts; and reopening Palestinian institutions in East Jerusalem."
The roadmap stipulates that Israel must freeze all settlement activities and vacate all settlements constructed after March 2001.
There are more than 164 Jewish settlements in the West Bank, eating up more than 40 percent of the occupied territory.
Nearly 10 percent of Al-Quds is seized for building additional Jewish settlements, leaving only 13 percent of the original area for the city’s 450, 000 Palestinian inhabitants.
The international community considers all Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land illegal.
"Settlements are illegal in our view and an obstacle to peace settlement in the West Bank and East Jerusalem," British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Tuesday.
"The settlements challenge the heart of…a Palestinian state."
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