Middle East Desk
Report
RAMALLAH: The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday condemned the Israeli plan for the development in the city of Jerusalem that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved this week .
“The 57-million-U.S. dollar new plan aims at deepening the Judaization of the city by force and creating new facts in favor of the occupation’s narrative and its false claims,” the foreign ministry said in a press statement. “All the money spent to execute the occupation’s plan and the Judaization of Jerusalem will never succeed. All the occupation’s measures of repressions and settlement expansion as well as targeting the cultural identity will fail,” it added.
On Monday, Israeli Radio reported that Netanyahu instructed to prepare a 200-million-new shekel (57 million U.S. dollars) plan to develop the city of Jerusalem, and that the plan is to improve the infrastructure and develop tourism in the city. The Palestinians want the eastern part of Jerusalem, which was occupied by Israel in 1967, to be the capital of the Palestinian state, while Israel insists that the city is the undivided eternal capital of Israel.
Earlier, The Palestinian government on Monday said it will deal with all affairs related to Gaza Strip through international third parties after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced the abolition of all agreements with Israel and the United States.
“Anything we need to send to Gaza, we will send through the International Red Cross Society and the United Nations, and in all cases, we will remain committed to our people wherever they may be,” said Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye at a press conference in Ramallah city.
Regarding the patients from Gaza who need medical care, Ishtaye said that they will be treated inside the strip, especially cancer patients, as medicine and medical equipment will be sent to the coastal enclave through the World Health Organization.
Meanwhile, the government is still studying a solution to the issue of access of goods into the Gaza Strip through the Israel-controlled border crossings, he said.
Last Tuesday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared the abolition of all agreements and understandings with Israel and the United States in protest against the Israeli plan to annex parts of the West Bank, including the Jordan Valley, and apply Israeli laws on settlements built in the occupied territory.
