"Israel" speed up construction of 2,000 settlement

The decision to speed up settlement construction was described by a senior Israeli government official as "punishment after the vote at UNESCO."

And the decision to speed up the building of the 2,000 settlement homes was accompanied by a plan to "temporarily freeze the transfer of funds to the Palestinian Authority," the official said. 

Every month, "Israel" transfers to the Palestinian Authority tens of millions of dollars in customs duties levied on goods destined for Palestinian markets that transit through "Israeli" ports. The money constitutes a large percentage of the Palestinian budget. 

"Israeli" Enemy has previously frozen the transfer of funds as a punitive measure in response to diplomatic or political developments viewed as harmful, prompting criticism. 

The Palestinians have roundly condemned the Israeli measures. 

The Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas described the freezing of funds as "inhumane" and said the acceleration of settlement construction was a decision to "speed up the destruction of the peace process."
Mr Abbas has long insisted that a complete freeze on settlement expansion has to be in place before any new peace talks can take place.

"The Israeli decision to speed up settlement construction with the construction of 2,000 new housing units is an Israeli decision to accelerate the destruction of the peace process," presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said.
"And the freezing of funds is stealing money from the Palestinian people."

Britain, France and Germany condemned the move as a blow to Middle East peace efforts.
They also sharply criticised 'Israel's decision to suspend the transfer to the Palestinian Authority of duties it levies on imports to the territories.

"Settlement building in the West Bank as well as in east Quds is illegal in international law and is a threat to the two-state solution," he said, adding that Israel should continue paying the funds owed to the Palestinians. said French foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero