“We consider this measure a war crime that will be added to the file of the International Criminal Court,” the Palestinian prime minister said.
By KHALED ABU TOAMEHUpdated: DECEMBER 21, 2020 17:16A MAN stands in front of Israeli troops near Ramallah on Friday, during a protest against Jewish settlements. (photo credit: REUTERS)
A bill seeking to legalize 65 outposts in the West Bank that passed its preliminary reading in the Knesset last week is a “war crime,” Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said Monday.The bill was presented by the Land of Israel Lobby, chaired by MK Bezalel Smotrich (Yamina).“We consider this measure a war crime that will be added to the file of the International Criminal Court,” Shtayyeh said in opening remarks during the weekly meeting of the PA cabinet in Ramallah. “We want the international community to do everything possible to confront, condemn and stop the entire settlement enterprise and boycott its products.”The Palestinians consider all settlements to be illegitimate and illegal, Shtayyeh said.He called on the United Nations Security Council to implement Resolution 2334, especially regarding settlement activities.Adopted in December 2016, Resolution 2334 demands that Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities.Shtayyeh expressed satisfaction with the outcome of Saturday’s meeting in Cairo between the foreign ministers of the PA, Egypt and Jordan. At the end of the meeting, the ministers issued a joint statement calling on the international community to urge Israel to resume peace negotiations with the Palestinians on the basis of international resolutions, the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative and the two-state solution.Shtayyeh praised PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s plan to convene an international conference for peace in the Middle East, saying it would lead to “real and serious peace.”The tripartite meeting in Cairo came within the context of coordination between the Palestinians and the Arab countries in dealing with a new US administration under President-elect Joe Biden.Mahmoud Aloul, deputy chairman of the Palestinian ruling Fatah faction, on Monday expressed hope that a Biden administration would adopt policies that are different from those endorsed by previous administrations.The Palestinians want to see a return to the two-state solution and a change of decisions taken by the administration of US President Donald Trump, he told the PA’s Voice of Palestine radio station.Aloul said the Palestinians were continuing their contacts with various parties, including Arab countries, to hold an international peace conference.
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