Not leaving settlements means Tel Aviv not after peace: Arab League

The Arab League has said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent remarks about never leaving settlements show that the Tel Aviv regime does not seek peace.

Arab League chief Ahmed Abul Gheit made the remarks on Tuesday, and “strongly denounced” Netanyahu’s remarks.

“Abul Gheit considers this stance, which is utterly rejected, as something that cannot come from a person who seeks peace,” read a statement released by the league.  

On Monday, Netanyahu vowed to never uproot any West Bank settlement, saying the Tel Aviv regime would never remove any of the more than 100 Jewish settlements in the territory that Israel captured in 1967.

"We have returned here for good," Netanyahu said at a Monday ceremony in Barkan, a settlement in the northern West Bank. "There will be no more uprooting of settlements in the Land of Israel. Settlements will not be uprooted."

Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, has also slammed Netanyahu's comments and urged Washington to intervene.

"We call upon the US administration to deal with these provocations," which he said hinder peace efforts by the United States and are "an attempt to return things to square one."