(AhlulBayt News Agency) - Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesman Mark Regev said on Thursday that any future moratorium would not apply to al-Quds.
The ongoing Israeli settlement construction issue put an end to the US-sponsored direct talks between Tel Aviv and the Palestinian Authority, which began in early September.
A report indicates that Israelis have begun construction of 1,650 new settler units in the occupied Palestinian territories since the end of Tel Aviv's 10-month partial settlement freeze in late September.
The Israeli spokesman also noted that an earlier settlement slowdown did not include al-Quds.
"The previous moratorium did not apply to Jerusalem ... If there is a future moratorium, it will similarly not apply to Jerusalem," Regev said.
In an effort to persuade Tel Aviv to extend the freeze, the US agreed to give twenty F-35 fighters to Israel and to veto any anti-Israeli resolution at the United Nations Security Council in exchange for a three-month settlement freeze.
Acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas has announced that he will not return to the talks unless Tel Aviv freezes settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Palestinians argue that the settlement construction is aimed at preventing the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
Israel occupied al-Quds and the West Bank in the 1967 war -- a move not recognized by the international community and the United Nations.
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