Palestinians urge US to deliver on settlement stance

By Betul Yuruk

NEW YORK 

The U.S. must follow through on a firm stance against Israeli settlements, the Palestinian envoy to the UN Riyad Mansour told Anadolu Agency.

Praising a "strong reaction" from the Barack Obama administration on renewed "illegal" settlement efforts by the Jewish state, Mansour said Friday: "We ask the U.S. administration to follow on what they have stated during the last few days."

Mansour said the Palestinians were hopeful that "there is no solution but the solution of ending the Israeli occupation", but it "would require international political will".

"We are extending our hands for peace. If the other side is interested, we are ready," Mansour said.

The White House last week harshly rebuked Israel’s plans to expand a settlement deep in the heart of the West Bank, saying it threatens to stymie the viability of a Palestinian state.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest did not mince words when he told reporters that Tel Aviv’s announcement makes the achievement of a two-state solution, which Israel and Palestine have said they are seeking, “harder to achieve”.

The recently announced plans would see Israel construct 98 new housing units in the Shilo settlement, located northeast of Ramallah.

Earnest said the announcement was different from others because Shilo “is deep in the West Bank” and would unite a string of existing settlements that would further encroach on the West Bank.