Egypt Summons Israeli Ambassador Over Settlements

Cairo (ANTARA/Xinhua-OANA) - The Egyptian Foreign Ministry has summoned the Israeli ambassador to Cairo over the Israeli settlements construction plan in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, official news agency MENA reported Tuesday. Cairo's move came a day after Arab League (AL) Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi urged the UN Security Council Monday to take prompt steps to deter the Israeli settlement policies. "The Israeli government's decision to expand the settlements in the West bank and the Eastern Jerusalem is an escalating step after the UN recognized Palestine as a non-member observer state," Arabi said, adding such measures affect negatively the efforts exerted by the international community to achieve peace in the region. On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced plans to construct 3,000 new housing units in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the controversial E1 stretch of land connecting them (preventing a territorial continuum for a future Palestinian State. Despite the criticism by many countries on the move, the Israeli Interior Ministry on Monday said it is also working to expedite proceedings in the construction of 1,700 new housing units in the northeast Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo, triggering more controversy. Settlement activities brought peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians to a halt in 2010. Israel, now, is also under fire for another punitive move it announced Sunday, of withholding more than 100 million U.S. dollars in tax revenue it collects for the Palestinian National Authority.(*)