OIC slams Israel’s approval of 900 new settlement units

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - The Organization of Islamic Cooperation condemned Israel’s recent approval for the construction of 900 settlement units in Jewish settlements in occupied Jerusalem.In a statement released on Wednesday, OIC secretary-general Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said the decision to expand the settlements by Israel’s new national housing committee amounted to a “mockery of international will and a violation of international laws”, which classify Jerusalem as a Palestinian territory.Ihsanoglu reiterated that Jerusalem is an integral part of the Palestinian occupied territories and that Jewish settlement is illegal and aimed at perpetuating the Israeli occupation and changing the demographic reality in those territories.Ihsanoglu called on the UN Security Council and international Quartet to “take a firm stand to curb such provocative, illegal measures in all of the occupied Palestinian territories, with Jerusalem in particular./129