CAIRO: Egypt has denounced Israel's approval of plans to build 1,100 new hotel rooms in a settlement neighborhood of occupied east Jerusalem. This decision proves Israel's insincerity towards efforts to reach a solution to the conflict with Palestinians based on the establishment of an independent and geographically viable Palestinian state, Foreign Minister Kamel Amr said Thursday, in a statement released to Bikyamasr.com by Egypt's State Information Service. Israel has crossed all lines lately, he said. It tries to impose a status quo that would lead at the end of encircling the Palestinians in their towns with a swarm of settlements, he added. Egypt follows up these latest developments with concern as Israel increasingly persists in defying the international community that has consented to the illegality of settlement continued construction, Amr said. The continuation of settlement construction, especially in east Jerusalem, also poses a grave danger to the actual ability to apply the two-state solution on the ground, he said. The minister urged the international community to shoulder its responsibility towards implementing the two-state solution. He warned of “dreadful alternatives” should Palestinians find themselves facing a dead end, should Israel continue to encircle them with settlements and its army suppresses them.
