The Quartet urges the Israeli government to freeze all settlement activities: Ban Ki-Moon

 

March 19, 2010 (Hamsayeh.Net) - The Israeli jets once again bombed Gaza strip in what they claim to be as the retaliation against missile attack from Gaza Strip earlier on Thursday. Israel said one Thailand national working in that region was killed by the missile.

 

In Gaza Strip several groups claimed responsibility for the missile attack.

A new group called Ansar al-Sunna as well as al- Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said they launched a missile strike because of Israeli assault on two mosques in Jerusalem earlier.

 

‘The jihadist mission came in response to the Zionist assaults against the Ibrahimi and al-Aqsa mosques and the continued Zionist aggression against our people in Jerusalem,’ the al-Sunna group said in a statement. Hamas officials condemned the Israeli air strikes. Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesman for the Hamas said the Zionist enemy is fully responsible for all the escalation.

 

Also, today in Moscow, officials from the UN, Russia, the US and the European Union held a joint conference with a final statement condemning Israeli actions in the Middle East. UN chief Ban Ki-Moon read a joint statement saying the Quartet (the group comprising of the UN, Russia, the US and the EU) urges the Israeli government to freeze all settlement activities.

 

The statement referred to Israeli aggressive plans to build 1600 units apartment blocks in the ancient city of Jerusalem very close to historical structures.