(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-03-11 13:47

Separately Monday, European Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering called for an immediate halt to violence, saying, "I condemn the violence by Hamas and other Palestinian extremists, and I call on the government of Israel to listen to those voices calling for peace rhetoric to be replaced by peace acts and peace deeds."

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Denouncing the Israeli plan as "unacceptable," German Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Jaeger said Israel's housing activities would pose "a potential threat" to re-launching Middle East peace negotiations and could undermine the viability of a future Palestinian state.

Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa warned on Monday that the current Israeli settlement policy is threatening the Mideast peace process, the Egyptian official MENA news agency reported.

The stalled Mideast peace process "is moving towards failure" due to the Israeli settlement policy, Moussa was quoted as saying.

In a statement issued on Monday, Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki strongly criticized the Israeli housing plan in the settlement of Givat Ze'ev, saying the project run against the political dialogue to settle the Palestinian-Israeli problem.

The Israeli settlement activities undermined all chances to reach just peace in the Middle East and blew up all hopes revived at the Annapolis peace conference held last November in the United States, Zaki said.

Also Monday, Jordan's King Abdullah II blasted Olmert's approval. Speaking to reporters in Amman after a meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Abdullah called the construction project an "obstacle to peace."

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat also condemned the decision, saying "this will undermine the talks."

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