MOSCOW, February 10. /TASS/. The decisions of the Israeli government to strengthen control in the West Bank of the Jordan River deserve condemnation and cause concern, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated in an official comment.

"Israel’s new decisions regarding the West Bank deserve condemnation by the international community and cause serious concern," the diplomat stated. "This is an attempt to depart from the spirit and provisions of the Oslo II agreement, concluded in 1995 between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority."

Zakharova noted that the official text of this decision has not yet been published, but it has already provoked sharp criticism from Palestinians and across the Arab-Muslim world in general. The Palestinian National Authority regards it as an open attempt to "legalize the expansion of settlements, confiscation of land and destruction of Palestinian property in areas under Palestinian sovereignty," she indicated.

The attempts by Israel to unilaterally adjust the rules for property acquisition in the West Bank, the lifting of a long-standing ban on non-Muslims acquiring land in this area, and the transfer of control over sites revered by the followers of all Abrahamic religions to Israel deal "yet another blow to the prospects of normalization in the zone of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and a final settlement on Palestine based in international law with the central two-state formula," the diplomat added.

"We call on the Israeli authorities to reconsider the planned steps aimed at changing the ‘status quo’ in the West Bank, thus avoiding a further escalation of the dangerous situation in the zone of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and throughout the entire region [of the Middle East]," Zakharova emphased.