UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday took a swipe at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying it was "unacceptable and outrageous" to claim that opposition to settlements was tantamount to ethnic cleansing. Netanyahu has accused the Palestinians of seeking a state with "no Jews" and declared in a video released last week that this could be described as "ethnic cleansing." "I am disturbed by a recent statement by Israel's prime minister portraying those who oppose settlement expansion as supporters of ethnic cleansing," Ban told the Security Council during a meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Ban quoted Israeli data as showing that since April, there had been the highest number of construction starts in three years, confirming the Israeli push on settlements. Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, hit back at Ban, saying he should direct his criticism at the Palestinians.

Source: Egypt Independent September 15, 2016 15:33 UTC