Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has exploited Israel´s election race to expand settlements and Judaization in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.
A statement issued by the ministry said that "the settlement operations in the Palestinian territory have escalated recently with the personal participation of Netanyahu," warning against "the use and deepening of settlements and support for settler militias and gangs and attacks on Palestinians to ensure the results of the upcoming elections."
The statement pointed out that the Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem announced the implementation of a plan to expand a road linking the city to settlements at the expense of Palestinian land and the Israeli authorities to confiscate 100 dunums of land south of Nablus and north of Ramallah in the West Bank in favor of settlement.
The statement condemned settlement in all its forms, calling it "null, void and illegal in accordance with international law and signed agreements".
He also said that Netanyahu´s positions and electoral slogans affirm his absolute hostility to peace and his insistence on disregarding the international will of peace and the authority of peace and the international community as a whole.
He called on the Security Council to condemn and reject Netanyahu´s incursion, which undermines any chance of achieving peace on the basis of the two-state solution. .
Netanyahu has already announced his intention to annex Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank as part of the Land of Israel as part of an electoral pledge he made ahead of the elections.
Israel holds new legislative elections on September 17 after Netanyahu´s attempts to form a coalition government faltered.
The international community does not recognize settlements, whether or not they are established with the consent of the Israeli government.
Settlement is the most prominent file of the dispute between the Palestinians and Israel in light of the stalled peace negotiations between them since the end of March 2014 after nine months of US-sponsored talks without progress.
