Secretary General of the Arab League (AL) Amr Moussa on Monday called on the African leaders to stand firmly in opposition to Israel's settlement policies.
Moussa made the remarks at the 11th African Union (AU) summit which opened in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh earlier on Monday.
The Palestinian-Israeli dispute is getting more complicated and the peace process relaunched at the Annapolis conference is heading toward failure due to Israel's policies which aim at sabotaging all chances for peace, Moussa said.
The chief of the Cairo-based Arab bloc praised Egypt's efforts in mediating a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Palestinian factions.
During the opening ceremony of the AU summit, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Palestinians will not give up despite Israel's ongoing settlement activities in east Jerusalem, arrests in the West Bank and tight siege on the Gaza Strip.
He reiterated Palestinians' right of legitimate strife until they get their independence and set up their independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.
According to statistics, Israel has approved the construction of about 2,000 homes in disputed lands since renewing peace talks with the Palestinians at the U.S.-sponsored Annapolis conference last November.
Few tangible progress of the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks have so far been achieved. The Palestinian side considers Israel's settlements activities a major obstacle that obstructs any development in the peace process.
Source: Xinhua
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