France urges Israel to repeal settlement plan 'immediately

France called on Israel to “immediately” reverse a decision to approve the building of 200 new settlements in East Jerusalem, a move it said directly threatened a two-state peace solution.

“The decision by the Israeli authorities approving the construction of 200 new homes in the Ramot settlement again directly threatens a two-state solution,” French Foreign ministry spokesman Romain Nadal said.

“We call Israel to immediately go back on this decision at a time when everything should be done to stop the escalation (in violence) and relaunch the peace process,” Nadal said in an unusually strong statement.

The new housing is slated for a sprawling hillside complex of apartment buildings and private homes at the northern edge of Jerusalem, on land Israel captured in a 1967 war and annexed to the city in a move never recognised internationally. Palestinians want this territory as part of a future state.

The call comes a day after news broke that French lawmakers are set to hold symbolic parliamentary votes over the next month on whether the government should recognise the Palestinian Territories as an independent state, in a move likely to anger Israel.

While France does not currently classify the Palestinian Territories as a state, it has said it could extend recognition if it believed doing so would help promote peace between the Palestinians and Israel.

France backs 'two-state solution'

Even if lawmakers do back the motion, it is non-binding and would not force the government to change its diplomatic stance.

The foreign ministry on Wednesday did not specifically comment on the parliamentary vote, but repeated it was urgent to relaunch peace talks that would lead to a Palestinian state.

“France is attached to a two-state solution. This solution implies that there will be a recognition of a Palestinian state by France,” Nadal said in a daily news briefing on Wednesday.

Tension has risen between Palestinians and Israelis in recent weeks as disputes have mounted over Jewish access to one of Jerusalem’s holiest sites, revered by Muslims as Noble Sanctuary, where al-Aqsa mosque stands, and by Jews as the Temple Mount, where their biblical temples once stood.

(FRANCE 24 with AP, REUTERS)