Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said that he Sunday he was not surprised with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments that he was seeking to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.
“Israel will continue to brazenly violate international law for as long as the international community will continue to reward Israel with impunity, particularly with the Trump Administration’s support and endorsement of Israel’s violation of the national and human rights of the people of Palestine,” he said in a series of tweets.
“We will continued to demand our rights through international powers, including the International Criminal Court, until long overdue justice is achieved,” he continued.
Moreover, he said that US President Donald Trump’s recent recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Syrian Golan Heights could be a precursor to recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the West Bank.
He may even recognize the state of Gaza under Hamas control, warned Erekat.
Netanyahu said on Saturday that he would annex Israeli settlements in the West Bank if he wins another term in office.
In an interview with Israeli Channel 12 News three days ahead of the April 9 poll, Netanyahu was asked why he had not extended sovereignty to large West Bank settlements, as Israel did without international recognition in east Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, both captured in the 1967 Middle East war.
“Who says that we won’t do it? We are on the way and we are discussing it,” Netanyahu said.
“You are asking whether we are moving on to the next stage - the answer is yes, we will move to the next stage. I am going to extend (Israeli) sovereignty and I don’t distinguish between settlement blocs and the isolated settlements.”
“Netanyahu’s dreams of annexing the West Bank will never be achieved and we will not allow that to happen,” said Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri.
Settlements are one of the most heated issues in efforts to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, frozen since 2014.
After decades of settlement-building, more than 400,000 Israelis now live in the West Bank, according to Israeli figures, among about 2.9 million Palestinians according to the Palestinian Statistics Bureau.
A further 212,000 Israeli settlers live in East Jerusalem, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The Palestinians and many countries consider settlements to be illegal under the Geneva conventions that bar settling on land captured in war. Israel disputes this, citing security needs and biblical, historical and political connections to the land.
The Palestinians want to establish a state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, all territory Israel captured in 1967. Israel has annexed east Jerusalem and withdrawn from Gaza. The West Bank remains under Israeli military occupation with limited Palestinian self rule.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
