Agencies

The World Council of Churches (WCC) called Thursday for "resistance" to Israel's decision to allow the expansion of Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem.

WCC said the decision "may destroy any chance for peace", Agence France-Presse reported.

Secretary General Reverend Samuel Kobia called on organisations related to the council "to act with resolve, in concert... to reverse this decision of the Israeli government and the settlement programme it represents".

Israel on Wednesday said it would build 900 new homes at the Gilo settlement in East Jerusalem, which Israel invaded and occupied in 1967 and subsequently annexed, a move not recognised by the international community.

Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be the capital of their future state.

Expressing "great disappointment", Kobia said the leading council of Christian and Orthodox churches "strongly condemns the decision... to expand the illegal Gilo settlement as we believe that this decision will hinder attempts now in process to restart the peace negotiations".

Kobia warned in a statement that "if settlements continue to expand and proliferate, they will further complicate negotiations and may destroy any chance for peace".

"People of conscience and good faith around the world are looking to the government of Israel now to move towards the resolution of an interminable conflict rather than continue with decades-old policies that have driven it towards the point of no return."

The WCC brings together 348 Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican churches representing about 560 million Christians in 110 countries.

China

China also criticised the Israeli government's move to expand a Jewish neighbourhood in the part of Jerusalem claimed by Palestinians, saying it poses new obstacles to the Middle East peace process, the Associated Press reported.

The remarks by China's foreign ministry on Thursday added to a chorus of American, European and Palestinian demands that Israel stop settlement activity in the disputed part of the holy city.

"We urge the Israeli side to take concrete measures to restore Palestine-Israel mutual trust and create favourable conditions for the early resumption of talks between them," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in a regular briefing.

While Beijing is not traditionally a heavyweight in Middle East diplomacy, China in recent years has become more active, seeing stability in the Middle East as helping to secure the oil and gas imports the Chinese economy relies on.

Austria

Austria on Thursday condemned Israel's decision to allow the expansion of Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem, describing it as a deliberate attempt to block peace efforts, AFP reported.

"Israel's ongoing settlement policy is increasingly becoming a targeted effort to undermine any peace process," Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger said in a statement.

"The growing Israeli settlements on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem, and the blockade, are destroying any trust in a political process and thereby hindering economic and social developments in the Palestinian territories," he added.

On Thursday, Spindelegger urged: "Israel must put an end to this one-sided policy on Palestinian territory."

The minister also called on the Fateh Party and the Islamist Hamas movement, the two main but bitterly divided Palestinian factions, to seek a reconciliation, "or else all efforts to create an independent state are doomed to failure".

"We are currently lacking the readiness and the courage for an honest negotiating process," he concluded.

Air strikes

Israeli warplanes on Thursday attacked a building and two tunnels in the Gaza Strip following the launch of rockets by Palestinian fighters, AFP reported, citing a military spokeswoman.

The aircraft targeted a building in the southern city of Khan Younis where Palestinian fighters were producing weapons, and two smuggling tunnels linking the southern city of Rafah with nearby Egypt, the spokeswoman said.

The operation followed a dozen rocket and mortar attacks from Gaza-based Palestinian fighters since October 22.

According to an Israeli army count, some 270 rockets and mortar shells have been fired at Israel since the end of Israel’s offensive against the Gaza Strip's Hamas rulers at the beginning of the year.