Asia

Home page

Asia

Israel settlement activity, tax transmission freeze "exacerbating tensions": Japan

01 December 2011 02:49 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Japan on Wednesday condemned Israel’s decision to accelerate settlement activity in East Jerusalem and freeze the transmission of tax revenues it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, saying that both actions "are exacerbating tensions between the parties", APA reports quoting Xinhua.

The statement came as Kazuo Kodama, deputy permanent representative of Japan to the United Nations, was speaking at a plenary meeting of the UN General Assembly on the situation in the Middle East.

"The settlement activities are a violation of international law, and the tax transmission freeze worsened the Palestinian Authority ’s financial situation as well as the well-being of Palestinians in the affected areas," Kodama said.

"Japan is also concerned about the provocations by use of force between Israel and Palestinian militants and calls upon both parties to exercise maximum self-restraint and avoid causing further victims," he said.

Kodama also regretted that peace negotiations have stalled for more than a year, but he was still hopeful that a two-state solution could be realized through direct talks.

"Japan shares the vision that the borders under the two-state solution should be defined through negotiations, based on the 1967 lines, with mutually agreed swaps, in a way that will ensure the peaceful co-existence of a viable Palestinian state and the State of Israel, with secure and recognized borders," he said.

Kodama reserved high praise for the "vigorous endeavors" of the members of the Quartet on the Middle East, the group composed of the United Nations, the European Union, Russia and the United States currently brokering negotiations between Israel and Palestine.

"Japan welcomes that separate meetings took place between the Quartet members and the respective parties on Oct. 26 and Nov. 14, respectively," Kodama said.

"We strongly expect that these meetings will be an important step forward towards the resumption of direct negotiations," he said.

The latest talks between Israel and Palestine stalled in Sept. 2010 when Israel failed to renew a moratorium on settlement building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, prompting Palestine to withdraw from negotiations.