(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Egypt strongly condemned the Israeli occupation authority’s plan to construct nearly 800 new settlement units in eastern Jerusalem and government headquarters in Mount of Olives.
Egyptian Foreign Ministry pointed out in a statement on Friday that "attempts to separate East Jerusalem from its surrounding Palestinian territories in the West Bank and efforts to Judaize it create obstacles on the path to reach a just and comprehensive peace between the Palestinian and Israeli sides, and on the implementation of the two-state solution upon which the international community had agreed."
Egypt also condemned the Israeli officials' attempts to lift restrictions on settlement activity in the occupied territories and called on Israel "to immediately stop the construction in East Jerusalem and the West Bank as it threatens security and stability in the region."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had visited last Tuesday the Jewish Gilo neighborhood south of the city of Jerusalem, where he called for the continuation of settlement activity in the city so that it would remain the “eternal capital of Israel”.
For his part, Ezzat al-Reshq, member of Hamas politburo, said that the Israeli occupation’s attempts to obliterate the Arab and Islamic landmarks in the city of Jerusalem are "desperate attempts and will not succeed in changing the historical facts."
He stressed in a press statement on Thursday that Jerusalem will remain an Arab and Islamic city, and the capital of Palestine.
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