West Bank Land Appropriation Damages Talks

Former Zionist regime’s President Shimon Peres said the regime’s appropriation of West Bank land for settlement is damaging talks for a lasting diplomatic accord with the Palestinians.

“We have to agree not to continue the building of new settlements while we are negotiating,” Peres said in a Bloomberg Television interview in Cernobbio, Italy.

“You cannot quarrel and negotiate at the same time. So we have to agree on a quid-pro-quo situation.”

Zionist regime last week announced it was declaring about 1,000 acres of territory south of Beit-ul-lahm as state property, clearing the way for eventual construction of new settlements there.

The seizure was condemned by the Palestinians, the U.S. and the United Nations as detrimental to the peace process.

Peres’s comments reflect the division in Israel over new settlements and peace talks with the Palestinians.

Zionist Regime’s Economy Minister Naftali Bennett last week defended the moves, adding that a Palestinian state was “not working.”
Finance Minister Yair Lapid said the appropriation in the Gush Etzion region was taken without cabinet approval and “causes damage” to Israel.

The U.S. called on Zionist Regime to reverse the land seizures, and expressed concern about reports of settlement plans in east al-Quds.

Such measures are “contrary to Israel’s stated goal of negotiating a permanent status agreement with the Palestinians,” U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in an e-mailed statement.

Palestinians say Israeli construction in the West Bank and east al-Quds is a war crime that violates the Fourth Geneva Convention.