Clinton hits out at Israel's 'unhelpful' demolition plans

Published on Wednesday 4 March 2009 21:18

THE United States secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, yesterday criticised Israel's demolition of Palestinian homes in Jerusalem, as she promised to be personally involved in stalled Middle East peace efforts.

She also displayed strong public support for Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, who has steadily lost backing at home after a year of inconclusive peace talks.

Israel has issued orders for the demolition of dozens of Palestinian homes in east Jerusalem, saying they were built illegally. Palestinians say they cannot get proper building permits and the demolitions are meant to assert Israel's control over the disputed city. "Clearly, this kind of activity is unhelpful," Mrs Clinton said.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Office has cancelled plans to move the British Embassy in Tel Aviv into a high-rise building partially owned by the London-based Russian billionaire Lev Leviev, after protests that his company builds Israeli settlements in the West Bank.