No change: Palestinian verdict on Israeli election

The result of the Israeli election has been greeted with a mixture of resignation and indifference among Palestinians.

Now, as before, the main sticking point is the building of Jewish settlements on land considered by the Palestinians to have been usurped.

In the West Bank capital, Ramallah, one resident said: “They’re going to increase the number of settlements and take over more land. They’re going to suffocate the Palestinians as usual. It’s nothing new, but much worse.”

There was scepticism too in the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by the Islamist Hamas Palestinian faction.

Senior Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said: “Despite the big changes on the Israeli political map, their party manifestos reaffirm their intention to continue aggression against our people and to deny our national rights.”

Direct peace talks between the Palestinians and Israel broke down in 2010 over settlement building in the West Bank. Palestinians believe the land Israel is using is vital to any future Palestinian nation created under a two-state solution.

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