CAIRO: John Holmes, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, stressed that Israeli actions in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, including expanding settlements, was counter to the peace process. Holmes, while speaking at the UN after visiting Israel and the Palestinian territories earlier this month told journalists there had been some, “if little progress” with the Israelis allowing goods such as glass to fix broken windows into Gaza. Holmes said the situation in Gaza “was so bad that even though smuggling tunnels to Egypt were fostering a gangster economy, the situation would become unsustainable if they were blocked.” Egypt continues to reinforce its Gaza border barrier with underground metal plates in an attempt to block the tunnels. Holmes spoke as Biden was ending his visit to the Middle East, the highest ranking Obama administration official to go to Israel and the West Bank since he took office in January 2009. Last Tuesday, Israel's interior ministry said that the Jerusalem authorities had approved the expansion of Jewish homes in East Jerusalem after much international criticism. Biden said the decision “undermined the trust required for productive negotiations” and warranted his “unequivocal” condemnation. Around 500,000 Jewish settlers live in more than 100 settlements erected since the 1967 war saw the Jewish state take over occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan. BM
