A senior Palestinian Authority official accused Israel of violating the terms of the proximity talks by constructing 14 housing units in an east Jerusalem neighborhood. Yasser Abed Rabbo said the Palestinians had informed the U.S. Administration of the violation and warned the Palestinians would not pursue negotiations until it receives concrete assurances that Israel will halt all construction.
Just as proximity talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority began, a Palestinian official accused Israel of violating the negotiating terms by constructing 14 housing units in an east Jerusalem neighborhood.
Yasser Abed Rabbo said he was responding to a report by Peace Now Sunday which said construction is underway to build the housing units in the east Jerusalem neighborhood Ras al-Amud. Rabbo said the Palestinians immediately contacted the U.S. Administration to inform them of the matter.
"This is the first violation and first breach of the terms to start the indirect negotiations," said Abed Rabbo, the secretary of the Palestine Liberation Organization's Executive Committee.
"We will act immediately to stop this, because we will not agree that negotiations will be used as a cover for settlement activities," he said
On Sunday, Peace Now said that renovation work has recently begun for the construction of 14 housing units on the site of an old Israel Police station in East Jerusalem, where plans are in the works for the largest Jewish neighborhood in that part of the city to be called Ma’aleh David.
According to the movement, some 50 Jewish families currently live in six buildings in Ras al-Amud, where an American Jewish millionaire has purchased land to build further housing units.
The plan calls for the construction of 104 housing units on the land where the former headquarters of the Judea and Samaria police was housed before it was moved.
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