Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat called for diplomatic action against Israel in response to its move to annex 4,000 dunams (1,000 acres) of Palestinian land south of Bethlehem in the West Bank, near the settlement of Gush Etzion, on Sunday. “The Israeli government is committing various crimes against the Palestinian people and their occupied land,” Erekat told AFP. “The international community should hold Israel accountable as soon as possible for its crimes and raids against our people in Gaza and the ongoing Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.”

Right wing Israelis settlers burn the Palestinian flag and shout racist slogans, during an anti-Palestinian protest at the Gush Etzion junction, next to the Palestinian town of Bethlehem, following the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers, West Bank, June 16, 2014 (Photo: Activestills)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policy of constant settlement expansion on land the Palestinians claim for a future state is deemed illegal by the European Union and an obstacle to peace by the United States and opposed by both. “Today’s announcement clearly represents Israel’s deliberate intent to wipe out any Palestinian presence on the land and to willfully impose a de facto one-state solution,” senior PLO official Hanan Ashrawi said.

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