Ramallah, 29 June 2024 (TDI): The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of Palestine condemned Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank in the strongest terms. The denunciation came after the Israeli cabinet approved legalizing five West Bank settlement outposts on 28 June 2024.
The Ministry said it viewed the Israeli government’s ongoing commission of the crime of settlement expansion in very extreme gravity. Israel deliberately practices apartheid to obstruct any chance for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Furthermore, Israel shall be held entirely accountable for the effects of genocidal war on Palestine and the region as a whole.
The Ministry said that Israel’s settlement plan in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem constitutes a clear violation of the UN resolutions. Specifically, resolutions on international legitimacy, particularly Resolution 2334, are being gravely violated.
Call for International Assistance
The Ministry declared that Israel despises the global norms that deem colonialism as a barrier to the realization of the two-state solution. For this reason, Palestine demanded immediate international and American assistance to halt Israel’s illegal unilateral actions.
It emphasized that the way forward was the legal action, imposition of international sanctions, and pressure on the Israeli government. If Israel is to halt its settlement expansion and commit to the global peace movement, it must be forced via legal action.
Israel’s Settlement Plan
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich proposed a comprehensive plan to resist Palestinian statehood recognition. The Security Cabinet approved the plan on June 28, 2024. As a result, thousands of new dwelling units in settlements will be built through tenders.
In addition, five settlement outposts in the West Bank will be legalized. It also includes limiting the movement of Palestinian officials, rescinding their permits and benefits, and barring top officials from departing the nation.
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The proposal transfers executive autonomy from the Palestinian Authority in the southern West Bank and enforces anti-development legislation.
Israel’s expansionist policies seek to reinstate its sovereignty in the occupied territory. In addition, they also aim to thwart Palestinian attempts to achieve their right of self-determination in international courts.
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