
PARIS, July 23 (KUNA) -- The French Foreign Ministry on Thursday summoned  Israeli Ambassador in Paris Daniel Shek to demand a halt of Jewish settlements  in East Jerusalem and a reopening of crossings with the Gaza Strip.
Spokesman  for the French Foreign Ministry Eric Chevallier said the Israeli ambassador to  France had already been summoned and told that Jewish settlements in East  Jerusalem should be stopped.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner was  quoted by Chevallier as saying that a halt of Israeli settlements was essential  for maintaining the two-state solution and resuming Palestinian-Israeli peace  talks.
The US, France, European Union (EU) and Russia have called on Israel  to halt settlement activities in East Jerusalem, but the latter is still  defiant.
Kouchner has recently blasted Jewish settlements as against both  international and Israeli law, calling for a stop of those activities.
French  President Nicolas Sarkozy had also reiterated "the need for a complete freeze"  of building settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
However, Israeli  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected calls and insisted Jews should be  allowed to build homes anywhere they like in Jerusalem.