RAMALLAH, Palestine, Nov 21 (NNN-WAFA) – Prime Minister, Mohammad Ishtaye, urged international community, to take measures against Israelis living in West Bank settlements with dual nationality.
Ishtaye held an urgent cabinet meeting on Wednesday evening, in the wake of U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo’s remarks, over the legality of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
“We call upon the international community to take serious measures, against settlers with double nationalities, who live illegally in settlements that have been established illegally, on occupied Palestinian territory,” Ishtaye told reporters.
Israel allows its citizens to hold dual citizenship. Israelis with dual citizenship can enjoy government subsidies and incentives, if they live in West Bank settlements.
Ishtaye also urged the International Criminal Court to launch its investigation, into the issue of Israeli settlement activity, which was referred to it by Palestine previously.
He described Pompeo’s remarks over Israeli settlements as an attempt to divert attention, away from U.S. President Donald Trump’s impeachment hearings, and “absolve Israel of its own crimes.”
He warned that such a declaration will have “shock waves throughout the international order, as it stands as a threat to international legality and institutions.”
On Monday, Pompeo said, the United States considers “the establishment of Israeli settlements in the West Bank is not, per se, inconsistent with international law,” and that Washington was not weighing in on the legality of any individual settlement.– NNN-WAFA