MIDEAST-UN/BAN-NETANYAHU U.N. chief demands Israel rescind settlement expansion plans

Record ID: 565602

  • Title: MIDEAST-UN/BAN-NETANYAHU U.N. chief demands Israel rescind settlement expansion plans
  • Date: 13th October 2014
  • Summary: JERUSALEM (OCTOBER 13, 2014) (REUTERS) UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON SHAKING HANDS WITH ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU AND APPROACHING PODIUM (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON SAYING: "I am very concerned about the recent announcement of plans to advance settlements in East Jerusalem, which are in clear violation of international law. This does not send the right signals and I urge the government of Israel to reverse these activities." CAMERAMAN (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON SAYING: "After this difficult summer for Palestinians and Israelis, both sides need to take steps to build trust and confidence." CAMERAMAN (SOUNDBITE) (English) ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU SAYING: "I believe that unilateral steps by the Palestinians at the United Nations will not advance peace. I think they will do the very opposite. They will bring about a further deterioration in the situation, something none of us want." MORE OF NEWS CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 28th October 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Jerusalem
  • City:
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAAUT6PE31I88TIXJUZSZKZVGT
  • Story Text: United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon demanded on Monday (October 13) that Israel halt its plans to expand settlements in East Jerusalem and that both sides "quickly return" to peace talks for a two-state solution that collapsed earlier this year.
    Ban visited Israel and Palestinian territories a day after a conference in from Cairo where Western and Arab nations pledged $5.4 billion for reconstruction in Gaza, a territory he plans to visit on Tuesday which was devastated by a war with Israel in which 1,200 Palestinians died and 18,000 homes were destroyed.
    Meeting in Jerusalem with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Ban denounced Israeli plans published this month to expand Jewish housing in East Jerusalem, a district Palestinians want for capital of a state but that Israel has annexed as part of its own capital in a move never recognised internationally.
    The United States and European Union have also strongly denounced Israel's plan to move ahead on a blueprint approved two years ago to build 2,600 housing units in Jerusalem's Givat Hamatos neighborhood, near the outskirts of Bethlehem.
    "I am very concerned about the recent announcement of plans to advance settlements in East Jerusalem, which are in clear violation of international law. This does not send the right signals and I urge the government of Israel to reverse these activities," Ban said.
    Ban, alluding to the Gaza war Israel said was intended to stop Islamist militants from firing rockets at its towns and cities, said that "after this difficult summer for Israelis and Palestinians, both sides need to take steps to build trust and confidence."
    The war in which 67 Israeli soldiers and six civilians were also killed, ended with an Egyptian-mediated truce on Aug. 26.
    Ban also urged Israelis and Palestinians to "quickly return to the negotiations table with a readiness to make the tough and necessary compromises... there is not a moment to lose."
    The last round of U.S.-brokered negotiations for an envisaged Palestinian state in land Israel captured in a 1967 war broke down in April over disputes about a pledged Israeli prisoner release and settlement building.
    U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry similarly said on Sunday he hoped a conference in Egypt where money was raised for Gaza rebuilding would yield "a renewed commitment from everybody to work for peace."
    Netanyahu cautioned against growing support by U.N. member states for a Palestinian motion for statehood recognition despite the absence of a negotiated peace settlement.
    "I believe that unilateral steps by the Palestinians at the United Nations will not advance peace. I think they will do the very opposite. They will bring about a further deterioration in the situation, something none of us want," Netanyahu said.
    British lawmakers were expected to hold a symbolic parliamentary vote on Monday on whether the government should recognise Palestine as a state. Sweden declared its support for the Palestinian motion for statehood earlier this month.
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