U.N. and U.S. State Department officials condemned Israel’s eviction of Arab squatters from a home in Jerusalem’s Shimon HaTzadik (Sheikh Jarrah) neighborhood on Sunday. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Meggan Mattson said that Israel’s actions to remove the squatters violated the tenets of the Roadmap peace plan. “Unilateral actions taken by either party cannot prejudge the outcome of negotiations and will not be recognized by the international community,” Mattson said in a statement.
Robert Serry, the U.N. Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, also condemned the move. “These actions heighten tensions and undermine international efforts to create conditions for fruitful negotiations to achieve peace,” Serry stated.