U.S. concerned about Israel's demolition of East Jerusalem hotel

U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton on Sunday expressed concerns over Israel's demolition of a historic hotel in East Jerusalem, describing it as a "disturbing development."

"We are very concerned about the initiation of demolition of the Shepherd's Hotel in East Jerusalem," said Clinton in a statement issued by the State Department. She is currently visiting the United Arab Emirates, Xinhua reports.

The Israeli authorities are planning to replace the ancient Shepherd Hotel in the eastern part of the city occupied by Israel in 1967, with a building of two stories to settle Jewish families. However, the Palestinians consider the hotel a symbol of their presence in the city and condemn such a move.

She said this "disturbing development" undermines peace efforts to achieve the two state-solution.

"In particular, this move contradicts the logic of a reasonable and necessary agreement between the parties on the status of Jerusalem," Clinton said.

"We believe that through good faith negotiations, the parties should mutually agree on an outcome that realizes the aspirations of both parties for Jerusalem, and safeguards its status for people around the world," she said.

She warned that a failure to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict harms Israel, the Palestinians, the United States and the international community.

Clinton vowed to continue to press ahead with all parties to resolve the core issues of the conflict, including the Jerusalem issue.

On Sept. 2 last year, the Palestinians and Israel resumed direct talks in Washington under U.S. brokering. But the talks quickly fell into a deadlock as Israel failed to extend the moratorium on West Bank settlement activities. So far, it is still unclear when or whether the face-to-face negotiations can restart.