Palestine Condemns Israeli Plans to Build 800 Houses in West Bank

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Palestinian government condemns Israeli plans for the construction of 800 houses for Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem and the nearby West Bank settlement of Ma'aleh Adumim, spokesman for the government Youssef Mahmoud said Monday.

Earlier in the day, media reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and newly appointed Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman had approved the construction.

The campaign is aimed at escalation of tensions on the Palestinian territory, Mahmoud said in a statement, cited by the Palestine's WAFA news agency. The spokesman called for international community to deter Israel from continuing construction on the occupied lands.

The new plans were voiced amid a recent wave of Palestinian-Israeli violence. At least three people, including a 13-year-old girl with US citizenship who was stabbed in her home in a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank, were killed and six were injured in a series of terrorist attacks in late June.

Palestinians have been seeking 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 builds settlements on the occupied areas, despite objections from the United Nations.