Algeria condemned Israel’s announcement that it is preparing to build 3,000 new housing units in illegal settlements in Jerusalem and the West Bank and accused Israel of seeking revenge for the diplomatic success achieved by Palestine by rising to the status of United Nations non-member observer state. In a statement to the Algerian News Agency on Sunday, Algeria’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Amar Belani said: “Algeria condemns Israel’s announcement of plans to build 3,000 new housing units in illegal settlements in the occupied Jerusalem and West Bank.” This arbitrary step, Belani said, aims at cutting communication between the territories of the Palestinian state what has been recently recognised as a non-member observer state by the United Nations General Assembly.” “We also condemn the vindictive, illegal steps that aim at freezing the transfer of funds owed to the Palestinian Authority,” the spokesperson added. Belani also urged the internation community to “exert its utmost efforts towards putting an end to these provocative actions that arise from a methodical settlement policy that contravenes international law and represents a stumbling block in the path towards peace.”