RAMALLAH/GAZA, Palestine, Nov 19 (NNN-WAFA) – Remarks by U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, that Israeli settlements in the West Bank “don’t contradict international laws” have outraged the Palestinians.
The Palestinian Presidency, the Palestinian Authority, the Executive Committee of Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), the Islamic Hamas movement and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, slammed Pompeo’s announcement.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman of the Palestinian Presidency, said, in an official press statement that, Pompeo’s declaration “is void, rejected, condemned and totally contradicts international law.”
He also said, Pompeo’s remarks violate “the resolutions of the international legitimacy and the Security Council resolutions, in particular resolution No. 2334.”
Abu Rudeineh clarified that the American administration “is not entitled or authorised to revoke the resolutions of the international legitimacy, nor is it entitled to give any legitimacy to Israeli settlement.”
He added, “The Palestinian Presidency calls on the world to reject and condemn these remarks, for being illegal and threatening international peace and security.”
He stressed that the American administration has completely lost all credibility and no longer has any role in the peace process.
“We hold the American administration fully responsible for any repercussions of this dangerous situation,” he said.
Political ties between the United States and the Palestinian Authority have been severed, right after President Donald Trump announced Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, in Dec, 2017.
Meanwhile, the Islamic Hamas movement, which rules the Gaza Strip, also slammed Pompeo’s announcement.
“Pompeo’s remarks are a continuation of the American policy, which has always been biased, in support of the occupation, and an official cover for its violations and crimes, committed against the Palestinian people,” Hamas said in a press statement.
Around half a million Israeli settlers now live in the West Bank settlements. Several UN resolutions have condemned the settlements and demanded their end.
Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the PLO Executive Committee, said, “The U.S. administration puts itself on the side of the settlers’ rhetoric, and defends the settlement interests of some of its officials.”
Erekat called on the advisers of the U.S. administration, “to review the provisions of international laws.”
He also urged the international community “to respond to these illegal declarations, which pose a threat to international stability.”
“The international community is required to hold the U.S. accountable for these flagrant and continuing violations of international law and consensus, and the possible destabilisation of relations in the world.”
The Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, in a press statement, that, the remarks by Pompeo on Israeli settlements “are a green light to annex all the West Bank and bury the two-state solution.”
Meanwhile, Mohammad Dahlan, a Palestinian lawmaker, called on the Palestinians to hold a national conference, to confront Pompeo’s remarks.
“Holding a comprehensive national conference should end all obligations under the Oslo Accords and, in particular, to end all security cooperation between the Palestinian security apparatuses with Israel and the United States,” he said.– NNN-WAFA
