Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday slammed the Likud Central Committee’s vote in favor of annexing settlements in the West Bank, calling on the international community to take action against it.
On Sunday, the Likud Central Committee, the top decision-making body in the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling party, unanimously voted in favor of a resolution, calling on elected Likud officials “to work to allow unhindered construction and to extend Israeli law and sovereignty in all the areas of liberated settlement in Judea and Samaria.” While the resolution is not binding on Likud lawmakers, it does carry weight as Likud Knesset members need the backing of Central Committee members to succeed in party primaries.
“His excellency [Abbas] called on the international community to take immediate action to stop this aggression that the members of the extremist government coalition are leading against Palestinian rights and international resolutions,” the official PA news outlet Wafa reported.
Most of the international community considers the settlements illegal under international law, a position Israel disputes.
Abbas also asserted that the Likud body would not have conducted the vote on annexing settlements, if it did not have “the absolute backing of the American administration that has refused to condemn Israeli colonial settlements.” In stark contrast to US President Barack Obama’s administration, the Trump administration has largely stayed mum on Israeli settlement building.
“We hope that this vote serves as a reminder for the international community that the Israeli government, with the full support of the US administration, is not interested in a just and lasting peace. Rather its main goal is the consolidation of an Apartheid regime in all of historic Palestine,” Abbas remarked.
The PA president also vowed that the Palestinians will go to international courts and join international organizations “to protect our people’s rights and hold Israel accountable…for its grave and systematic violations of international law.” Last Thursday, the Palestinians submitted forms to join 22 different international organizations and agreements. Hamas Spokesman Fawzi Barhoum also panned the Likud Central Committee’s vote, describing it as a part of “a policy of aggression against Palestinian rights.”
“This will make us hold more tightly on to our people’s rights and the option of resistance to confront and abort these projects,” Barhoum said in a statement.
Article source: http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Shin-Bet-arrests-large-W-Bank-Hamas-cell-planning-attacks-against-Israel-522539
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