Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas, on Wednesday condemned the Jerusalem municipality's decision to approve the construction of 540 housing units in the Har Homa neighborhood of Jerusalem.
In a statement, Abu Rudeineh said that "construction in Jabal Abu Ghneim (the Arabic name of the Har Homa neighborhood -ed.) is contrary to the decisions of the international institutions condemning the settlement, and in particular Security Council Resolution 2334, which states that all forms of settlement in the Palestinian territories are illegal."
He added that the decision is "a provocation to the international community, and especially to the new US administration and the International Criminal Court."
"The government of the occupation is trying, through the continued expansion of settlement and the seizure of Palestinian land, to establish facts on the ground and prevent the establishment of a continuous Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital," Abu Rudeineh said.
He added that "if the international community, and especially the international Quartet, as it announced, wants to maintain a two-state solution in order to achieve peace and stability in the region, they must pressure the Israeli government to stop its settlement activities and stop ignoring legitimate international decisions."