Israel approves new West Bank settlements amid surge in Palestinian violence

· Israel should cease the policy of settlement construction and expansion, designating land for exclusive Israeli use, and denying Palestinian development.

Ban was “deeply disappointed” that Israel’s announcement followed the release of a report on Friday by the “Quartet” sponsoring the stalled Middle East peace process – the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations.

Hebron serves as the epicenter for the recent wave of violence by Palestinians against Israelis in the West Bank.

Palestinian terrorists have carried out four separate attacks in the past 32 hours, killing two Israelis, including a 13-year old girl murdered while she slept in her own bedroom, and wounding at least six others.

Israeli security forces have struggled to respond after months of attacks on Israeli civilians and security forces, as well as protests against Israeli occupation of lands claimed by Palestinians.

She was a relative of the Kiryat Arba attacker, and both were from Bani Naim, a village just outside Hebron.

The government has also approved plans for building 600 homes for Palestinians in East Jerusalem – a step which had been opposed by Education Minister Naftali Bennet because the planned homes were on the same site as a proposed Israeli settlement.

In the case of Beit Safafa, the Israeli government had put together a plan to completely encircle the Palestinian town with several Jewish-only settlements, thus cutting off the town from the rest of the West Bank and Jerusalem. Ahmad visited the home of Mohammed Nasser Tra’ayra on Sunday to offer his condolences to the family.

Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, condemned the new settlement approvals as well as the lockdown on the Hebron region.

Earlier on Sunday, the UN’s special coordinator for Middle East peace cautioned that a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is slipping away.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas have both expressed support for a two-state solution, but the report warns that “continuing on the current course will make this prospect increasingly remote”.

Hanan Ashrawi, the PLO executive committee member, said in an emailed press statement that it is “occupation” under global cover.

The leader of an influential Palestinian organization threatened on Saturday to cause financial harm to any Palestinian businesses joining the first Israeli-Palestinian mall now under construction in the northeastern Jerusalem.