Netanyahu Affirms Jerusalem Plans

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has again rejected US calls to halt construction in occupied East Jerusalem. He was speaking as US Middle East envoy George Mitchell arrived in the region to try to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

It is his first visit since a row broke out between Israel and the US over home construction plans in East Jerusalem, reports BBC.
"I am saying one thing: there will be no freeze in Jerusalem. There should be no preconditions to talks [with the Palestinians]" Mr Netanyahu said on Israel's Channel 2 TV.

However, he added that he hoped to resolve the differences with Washington, without giving any further details.
Netanyahu has said that no other Israeli prime minister in the past 46 years has been asked to stop building in Jerusalem, which would be unacceptable to his political allies.

Meanwhile, the UN said it could not educate thousands of Palestinian pupils because of Israel's blockade of Gaza. The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, John Ging, said the blockade made it impossible to build new schools to accommodate the growing numbers of students.

Israel imposed the siege after the militant Hamas movement seized control over the Gaza Strip in 2007.