Tue Dec 14, 2010 10:48PM
A general view shows a Jewish settlement in the occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank.
A senior UN official says that Israel's refusal to halt construction of settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories is a major “setback.”
The United Nations secretary general's personal representative to the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority (PA) Robert Serry on Tuesday called for renewed international efforts as Israel's continued construction in the West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem) has created complications.
"This is a serious setback," AFP quoted Serry as saying.
Tel Aviv refused to extend a partial freeze on the settlement activities in late September, thus stalling the direct talks with the PA that had resumed earlier that month in the United States.
"I've said that next year the credibility of this political process and its sponsors, including the [Middle East] Quartet, will be at stake," the official said, referring to the the US, the European Union, Russia and the UN.
He also said that the UN "will continue to consider settlements as illegal under international law and that we will also continue to hold Israel responsible under international law."
On Monday, the EU also "noted with regret" Tel Aviv's failure to prolong the 10-month settlement moratorium and likewise reminded the Israeli settlement expansion's illegality.
The UN officials call for international efforts to halt the Israeli construction in the occupied Palestinian territories comes as the US a White House official had recently revealed that the US has stopped urging Tel Aviv to extend its partial freeze on settlement construction.
HN/MGH
PressTV - UN blames Israel for 'serious setback'