'Israel should tread the path of peace'

Turkish President Abdullah Gul says Israel should show its sincere intention and eagerness to tread the path of a comprehensive peace process in the Middle East region.

During a meeting with visiting Israeli Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor Binyamin Ben Eliezer and an accompanying delegation in Ankara on Tuesday, Gul stated that an atmosphere of tranquility currently prevails between Israelis and Palestinians, but the ambience could be ruined should undesirable developments take place in the future.

The Turkish president also called on Israel to revise its policy on the construction of settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Gul's call comes amid a dispute over a report that Israeli officials are drawing up the blueprints for other large settlement projects in East Jerusalem Al-Quds as part of their efforts to Judaize occupied Palestine.

According to a report published by the Quds Press, the Israeli plan to build 900 new housing units in the settlement of Gilo is indeed a prelude for seven bigger settlement projects Tel Aviv wants to build in East Jerusalem Al-Quds.

The report added that some 107 settlement units are also to be built in the suburb of Noav Tzion that currently comprises 70 settlement units accommodating nearly 400 Israeli settlers.

A third settlement project, the Moscovitch suburb, would be built on occupied Palestinian land at Jabbal Al-Mukabber in Jerusalem Al-Quds city, and would include hundreds of settlement units.

Last week, Israel gave approval for the construction of hundreds of new housing units in illegally annexed East Jerusalem Al-Quds, drawing international criticism as it drove another stake into the heart of efforts to restart the peace process.

Under the 2002 Roadmap for Peace plan brokered by the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and Russia, Israel has to 'dismantle settlement outposts erected since 2001 and also freeze all settlement activities.'

(Source: Press TV)

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