CAIRO: Egypt on Tuesday condemned a move by Israel to authorize more Jewish settlements in occupied Arab east Jerusalem, saying it deliberately ignored international peace efforts.
Israeli daily Haaretz reported on Friday that the government had given the green light for 600 new homes in a Jewish settlement in east Jerusalem.
The move points to an insistence by Israel to ignore the efforts to advance the political process between the Palestinians and the Israelis aimed at establishing a Palestinian state and the end of the Israeli occupation, foreign ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki said in a statement.
It is regrettable that there exists such Israeli intransigence and insistence on the illegitimate and illegal construction on occupied Palestinian land, Zaki said.
Israel s continued expansion of settlements is one of the biggest obstacles to the resumption of peace talks with the Palestinians, now suspended for more than a year.
Palestinians want as their state the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which Israeli withdrew from in 2005, with annexed east Jerusalem as its capital.
About 200,000 Jewish settlers live in east Jerusalem alongside 270,000 Palestinian residents. -AFP
