The West Bank Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim, near
Jerusalem. Israel has announced plans to build another
Jewish settlement city on occupied West Bank land that
Palestinians believe must be part of their future state.
REUTERS/Ammar Awad
The United States has urged Israel to reconsider its plan
to erect 3000 more homes in the occupied West Bank and East
Jerusalem, saying the move was counterproductive to peace
efforts with the Palestinians.
Angered by the UN General Assembly's upgrading on Thursday of
the Palestinians' status in the world body from "observer
entity" to "non-member state," Israel said the next day it
would build the new dwellings for settlers.
"We urge Israeli leaders to reconsider these unilateral
decisions and exercise restraint as these actions are
counterproductive and make it harder to resume direct
negotiations to achieve a two state solution," White House
spokesman Jay Carney told a briefing.
"We reiterate our long-standing opposition to Israeli
settlement activity and East Jerusalem construction," he
said.
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