Selv USA – Israels nære allierede – fordømmer en strøm af nye jødiske kvarterer og bosættelser på den besatte Vestbred og i Østjerusalem, hvor der i forvejen anslås at bo en halv million israelere – og nu skal der bo endnu flere.
The UN secretary general and all Security Council members except the US demanded an immediate halt to new construction on occupied Palestinian land in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, BBC online reports Wednesday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government would press ahead with settlement expansion.
The US protects Israel at the UN but the state department accused Israel of “a pattern of provocative action” and putting the goal of peace “further at risk”.
Also on Wednesday, Jerusalem’s planning committee granted approval for 2.610 homes in a new settlement in East Jerusalem called Givat Hamatos – the first to be built in the area since 1997.
Meanwhile, tenders have been announced (udbudt i licitation) for several settlements in the West Bank for a total of 1.000 new homes.
Israel captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it as part of its capital, in a move never recognised internationally.
Palestinians want the area to be capital of a state they seek to establish in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, land also captured by Israel.
About 500.000 Jews live in more than 100 settlements built since the occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The settlements are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.
Earlier this week, Israel gave approval for 1.500 more homes at the Ramat Shlomo settlement in East Jerusalem.
