Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas, said on Wednesday that Israel’s approval of the construction of new housing units in Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem constitutes "a clear Israeli attempt to drag the area into a total explosion of which we have warned many times."
His comments came after the Supreme Planning Council in Judea and Samaria approved approximately 3,500 new housing units in Maaleh Adumim, Efrat, and Kedar.
"The failure of the international community, and in particular the Americans, to punish Israel encouraged it to continue to defy international legitimacy and reject it," charged Abu Rudeineh.
The “settlement plans”, he added, are inappropriate and will not bring security to anyone, since the international community maintains that the entire settlement enterprise is illegal in all the "occupied" Palestinian territories, including eastern Jerusalem, as reflected in Security Council Resolution 2334.
Abbas’ spokesman further said that "the Israeli decisions were made as part of the ongoing war which the Israeli occupation authorities are waging against the Palestinian people in all the occupied Palestinian lands in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem."
"The unprecedented international silence encourages the occupation government to commit more crimes of extermination and ethnic cleansing against our people, our country and our holy places," he added.
Abu Rudeineh called on the international community to move from statements to actions through the implementation of international legitimacy decisions and international law that define the entire settlement enterprise as illegal and to enforce strict international sanctions that will prevent Israel from continuing its "crazy" policy that threatens security and stability in the region and the entire world.