Turkey condemns occupant policies of Israel

Turkish Foreign Ministry on Friday condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s who said more houses would be built in occupied Palestinian lands.

Netanyahu’s remarks came ahead of national elections and the policy violated international law and UN resolutions, said the ministry.

It said the Israeli administration had repeatedly disregarded international law before every election and usurped the rights of Palestinians, which became a pattern for Tel Aviv.

Notably, the statement noted that Israel was encouraged by the US, which recently announced a so-called peace plan called “Deal of the Century.”

It concluded that Palestinians were the sole owner of their own lands and the occupant policies of Israel would never change that fact.

Palestinians also condemned the move as a campaign tactic ahead of the March 2 vote, designed to please nationalist voters who could prove crucial to the prime minister's political survival.

Israel seized east Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War. It later annexed it in a move never recognised by the international community.

Jewish settlements in east Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank are also considered illegal by most foreign governments and the United Nations.

No mandate?

Netanyahu, 70, will stand trial next month after being indicted for bribery, fraud and breach of trust.

He denies wrongdoing but the indictments have complicated his bid to extend his tenure as Israel's longest serving prime minister.

Two elections in April and September last year failed to produce a clear winner.

Recent polls are forecasting another tight race between Netanyahu's right-wing Likud and the centrist Blue and White party led by former military chief Benny Gantz.

Peace Now argued that a caretaker government, like the one Netanyahu is currently leading, does not have the capacity to green light controversial projects that further limit prospects for a future Palestinian state.

"Such a change of policy can't happen in a transitional government without a mandate from the public," the watchdog said.

Netanyahu has previously been accused of making last-minute campaign pledges as a play for vital right-wing support.

Peace Now blasted his latest announcement as "another cynical election trick."

Ahead of the September vote, he vowed to annex the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank if reelected.