Hezbollah, Jordan Islamists, slam Israeli expansion of settlements

Mar 12, 2010, 22:48 GMT

Beirut/Amman - Jordan's Islamic leaders joined the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah on Friday in slamming Israel's plans to build 1,600 housing units in occupied East Jerusalem.

In Amman, the Islamic Action Front, the largest Jordanian political party in terms of numerical strength, called for violent jihad against Israel at a rally in the central Jordan Valley near the Jordanian border with Israeli-occupied West Bank.

'Jihad is the best way for deterring the Zionist encroachment on the Islamic shrines,' the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood movement Hammam Aeed told the 3,000 activists who gathered there.

By shrines, he was referring to the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

In Lebanon, Hezbollah accused the United States of backing the Israeli decision, adding: 'Such a step is very dangerous and aims to change the demographics of the city.'

The announcement for the new construction came while Vice President Joe Biden was in Israel on Tuesday and just as Washington had brokered indirect talks between the Israelis and Palestinians.

Biden issued a statement while still in Israel harshly condemning the building plans.

On Friday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Clinton rebuked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with 'strong objections' to the plans.

The dispute opened up a rare diplomatic rift between the United States and Israel.

Hezbollah said that the Israeli actions aimed 'to eliminate the Palestinian cause.'

On Thursday, Jordan's King Abdullah II met with Biden and called for an 'immediate halt' to Israel's building of settlements in East Jerusalem.

Abdullah said the issue was set to 'torpedo' ongoing peace efforts, according to a royal court statement.