Ankara slams Israel's Netanyahu over illegal settlement announcement

Turkey on Feb. 21 slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he announced that he was reviving a plan for the construction of 3,000 new settler homes near East Jerusalem, a project effectively frozen after international opposition.

"We reiterate our strong rejection of this occupier mentality which ignores international law and the United Nations resolutions," Turkish foreign ministry said in a written statement.

"It is observed that the Israeli Government continues its habit of violating the rights of the people of Palestine and trampling international law before every election," it added.

The statement also said that Israel's decision on proceeding with the illegal settlements are "encouraged" by the "so-called" Mideast peace plan, unveiled by U.S. President Donald Trump on Jan. 28.

The peace supports the Israeli position on nearly all of the most contentious issues in the decades-old conflict. Where previous U.S. presidents tried to cajole Israel and the Palestinians into compromising on thorny issues like the borders of a future Palestinian state, the status of Jerusalem and the fate of refugees, Trump's Mideast team largely adopted the Israeli position.

As a result, the Palestinians have angrily rejected the plan, and the international community appears unlikely to rally around it.

"Palestinian territories belong to the people of Palestine. The occupier mindset shall never change this reality," the ministry's statement underlined.

Netanyahu's announcement, during an election campaign in which he has sought to shore up support from pro-settlement voters, was condemned by the Palestinians as another blow to their hopes for an independent state.

He has pledged to annex Jewish settlements in the...