BERLIN, October 28 (RIA Novosti) — Israeli government announced plans to build more than 1,000 homes in East Jerusalem and thus could make the peace talks with Palestine more complicated, Germany’s Foreign Office said Tuesday.
“The federal government is deeply concerned about the recent plans for the expansion of Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem. This step increases the obstacles on the road to a two-state solution, in the framework of which the status of Jerusalem must be resolved by mutual agreement between the parties,” a spokesperson for the German Foreign Office said in a statement sent to RIA Novosti.
“It also complicates the already troublesome negotiations in Cairo for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. And in the light of the continuing tensions between Israelis and Palestinians, it is feared that the expansion of settlements could further aggravate the situation,” the spokesperson added.
On Monday, the Israeli government announced plans to build more than 1,000 homes in East Jerusalem, an area Palestinians see as part of their future state.
Israel announced plans to build new settler homes in East Jerusalem in the course of peace talks with Palestine that resumed in 2013. The United States, the European Union and the United Nations have repeatedly condemned the move, stating that it undermines peace negotiations.
