A neighbourhood in Ariel, Israel.

Times of Israel – Israeli government sources said Thursday they were shocked by the international community’s condemnation of new settlement tenders, and contrasted this criticism with what they termed the untenable international readiness to work with the new Hamas-backed Palestinian unity government.

“It is mystifying that in the international community there are those who say that a Palestinian government which has a murderous terrorist organization as a member can advance peace,” the Israeli sources said, “while at the same time there are those in the international community who claim that construction in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, and in other places that the Palestinians know will remain under Israeli sovereignty in any future arrangement is a step that we must reverse.”

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