Israeli Approval of West Bank Settlements May Stall Peace Talks - Moscow

Moscow reiterates its concern about Israeli plans to further expand its settlements in the Palestinian territories, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Saturday adding that the approval of more housing units in the West Bank would pose a threat to the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – On Wednesday, Israel approved the construction of 285 new housing units in the occupied West Bank and retroactively legalized 179 homes that were built in the 1980s.

The Foreign Ministry said Moscow “was gravely concerned” by the reported approval of new Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

“In this regard we reiterate a well-known position of both Russia and the entire international community that such activities in the occupied Palestinian territories are illegal. We believe that the implementation of the reported Israeli projects will negatively affect the efforts to resume peace negotiations on a two-state settlement,” the Ministry’s statement said.

Palestinians have been vying for the recognition of their independent state, proclaimed in 1988, in the territories of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. The Israeli government refuses to recognize Palestine as an independent political and diplomatic entity, and continues to build settlements on the occupied land, despite objections from the United Nations.

The most recent round of peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians was initiated by the United States in mid-2013 but ended in a deadlock almost a year later. In late August, a diplomatic source told Sputnik that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas may meet in Moscow in late September.