Israel approves controversial settlement buildings

The Palestinian Authority has spoken out against the decision to give the go-ahead for the building of 1,500 homes for Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem. The Israeli government has approved plans for construction work to begin in the ultra-Orthodox neighbourhood of Rabat Shlomo, in reaction to the Palestinians gaining non-member observer state at the United Nations on November, 29. “These Israeli decisions are illegitimate. We will stand against them and we will stay on our Palestinian land. These Israeli decisions will only take us to the International Criminal Court,” said Fatah spokesman Ahmad Assaf. There has been widespread international opposition to Israel’s plans to build 3,000 homes on land in the West Bank known as E1. Jewish settlements are considered illegal under international law, but Israel disputes this.