British Consul-General to Jerusalem stresses importance of stopping settlement activities

British Consul-General to Jerusalem Philip Hall today said that the Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are illegal and constitute an obstacle to the  launch of negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis.

WAFA quoted Hall as saying in an interview on the official Palestine TV this morning that “we are talking candidly with the Israelis about the importance of halting all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The British Consul-General expressed his country’s concern about the violence of Israeli settlers against Palestinians, adding that the past five years were difficult, and there was no opportunity to improve the situation on the ground, especially since the previous US administration recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, which Britain has rejected.

Regarding British support for the Palestinian people, Hall said that Britain continues to provide financial support to the Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, in addition to supporting the Palestinian health and education sectors through the Palestinian government.

The (UNRWA) called on the international community to secure 1.5 billion dollars to finance its basic services for Palestinian refugees in the areas of their deployment in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.

Inas Abdulkareem