RAMALLAH, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman of the Palestinian presidency, slammed on Sunday the Israeli government's approval of an outpost near West Bank's Jericho city.
Abu Rudeinah held Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responsible for "continuing to undermine any opportunity to achieve a just and lasting peace based on the resolutions of international legitimacy."
In a statement published by official Palestinian news agency WAFA, Abu Rudeinah stressed that the Israeli settlements established in the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967 are illegal, and no one can give them legitimacy as they violate UN Security Council Resolution 2334.
The spokesperson said that the international community should immediately intervene "to stop the Israeli madness aimed at destroying all the foundations of the political process."
Israel's government said on Sunday it has approved a Jewish outpost in the Israeli-occupied Jordan Valley, two days before the country's parliamentary elections.
The decision was taken during a special meeting of Netanyahu's cabinet in the previously unauthorized outpost of Mevo'ot Yeriho, near the Palestinian city of Jericho.
Mevo'ot Yeriho was first established in 1999. Now, some 30 families live there, most of them in trailers.
Under international law, all of the Israeli settlements are illegal. However, Israel holds that the settlements are legal.
Outposts are settlements built without official permits from the Israeli authorities and are deemed illegal also under the Israeli law.
Netanyahu, who is running the electoral race as head of Likud party list, had previously promised to impose Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and Israeli settlements in the West Bank, as part of his electoral campaign.
