Amre Moussa, the secretary- general of the League of Arab States, on Friday called upon Israel to put an immediate end to the settlement construction in the West Bank, saying that if Israel goes ahead with the construction, it is impossible to set up an independent Palestinian state, Xinua reported.
Moussa told a press conference that as Israel goes on with the settlement construction, the population in the West Bank will change rapidly, making it more unlikely for the international community to carry out the two-state solution, which means an independent Palestinian state to live in peace with a secure Israel.
"This has to stop immediately, and this is the point that makes or breaks," Moussa said.
"If they continue this policy of changing the demographic composition ... of the territories, it will be practically impossible to establish a Palestinian state -- a viable Palestinian state," he said.
The Israelis have rejected the similar demand from the United States, made by U.S. President Barack Obama one day earlier when he was meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
On Obama's upcoming visit to the Middle East, Moussa said that the U.S. president's visit is positive to promoting the peace process in the region.
Obama is expected to visit Saudi Arabia and Egypt next week, during which he is to deliver a speech on June 4 in Cairo to the Muslim world to try to repair relations that frayed badly under the Bush administration.
Obama, like his predecessor George W. Bush, endorses a Middle East peace plan that calls for a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
The United States is in a diplomatic group, known as the Quartet, together with the United Nations, the European Union and Russia in search of peace in the Middle East.
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