Egypt Summons Israeli Ambassador over Settlements

Egypt's foreign ministry on Tuesday summoned Israel's ambassador to Cairo, Yaakov Amitai, to issue a "strong protest" over the Jewish state's plans for new settlements, a ministry spokesman said.

Alaa Eldine Yussef, who heads the Israeli affairs section at the ministry, told the envoy that "the Israeli government's plan contradicts the concept of land for peace, on which peace efforts in the region are built," spokesman Amr Roshdy said.

Israel's announcement about the planned 3,000 new Jewish settler homes in a critical area of the West Bank near Jerusalem came in the wake of a historic vote by the United Nations General Assembly to upgrade the Palestinians' diplomatic status.

Britain and France have also summoned the Israeli ambassadors.

Israel's settlement plans have always raised hackles but Friday's proposals -- seen as payback for the Palestinians securing the U.N. rank of a non-member state a day earlier -- are considered particularly contentious as such construction would effectively cut the West Bank in half.

The international outcry since Friday's move has been intense, with U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon warning that should Israel go ahead, "it would represent an almost fatal blow to remaining chances of securing a two-state solution."