Russia Urges Israel Not to Build New Settlements on West BankRussia on April 7called on Israel to give up its plans of building new and expanding existing Jewish settlements on the West Bank of the Jordan River.The Russian Foreign Ministry in a statement expressed great concern about the Israeli cabinet's approval of the plans to expand the Maale Adoumim and Alfe Menashe settlements in the West Bank region by 700 units. "Such unilateral actions, which run counter to the norms of international law, only fan the flame of Palestinian-Israeli conflict and make it harder to overcome the crisis, normalize the situation and resume the peace process in the Middle East," the statement said. "This act cannot but cause more concerns of the international community, especially the rising escalation of tensions in the Palestinian territories," the document noted. Russia, "which has consistently opposed to building new and expanding the existing Jewish settlements, calls on the Israeli government to stop this practice," it said. |
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