Int’l Reactions Warn Israeli gov’t Against Annexing Settlements in OPT .By: Madeeha Al-A’raj

The National Bureau for defending land and resisting settlements ( nbprs ) stated in its latest weekly report , that during his speech at a conference organized by the European Alliance for Israel, to Celebrate the centenary of the San Remo conference that was held in 1920, with the participation of the colonial countries, the winners of the World War I, and then divided the Middle East region and promote the ‘Balfour Declaration’, Israeli Prime Minister, Netanyahu arrogantly repeated his words to annex the Jordan Valley and settlements in the occupied West Bank, and to impose Israeli sovereignty and laws on them during next July.

The Israeli annexation plan comes at a time when the world preoccupied with the Corona pandemic, and attempts to control its economic, social and political effects on the countries of the world, ignoring the health situation in the occupied Palestinian territories as well. Moreover, the occupation government continues encouraging settlement activities carried out by extremist Jewish settlement organizations in various West Bank areas, including East Jerusalem, demolishing and distribution of Palestinian homes and properties, the latest of which was the distribution of 22 notices to stop the construction at a number of homes and installations in the Qarawat Bani Hassan, near Salfit at the Al-Ras area on the pretext that it is located in area C. The ongoing demolitions in all areas, and in the Jordan Valley in particular, come in accordance with the occupation government s plan to annex in next July.

In a significant step that would provide opportunities to achieve justice, and curb war crimes committed by the State of Israel in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, the Prosecutor s Office of the International Criminal Court Ms. Fatou Bensouda issued a report confirming the right of Palestine to go to the criminal court, she reiterated that, under Article 53 (1) of the Rome Statute, the jurisdiction of the Regional Court includes the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. She also ordered the first Pre-Trial Chamber of the Court to confirm that the lands which the court exercise its jurisdiction on includes these areas under Article 12 (2) (a).

Accordingly, Yuval Steinitz, the Israeli Minister in charge of Coordination between the International Criminal Ministries, and the Prosecutor of the Court, Fatou Benso, attacked her legal opinion, accusing her of adopting a clear anti-Israel policy with the influence of the Organization of Islamic States and the International Boycott Movement - BDS, as he claimed that the prosecutor’s disregard the views of world s experts of international law, adding she determined to harm Israel through international law by inventing the name Palestinian State even before the peace process negotiations.

At the same time, the European -union- considered Netanyahu’s statements to annex lands in the West Bank and impose Israeli sovereignty as a ‘clear violation of international law’. Knowing that Ambassadors of 9 EU’s countries have warned Israel that its planned annexation of the occupied West Bank would have ‘grave consequences’ for the regime. They presented an official objection to Netanyahu on that via a video conference with the Israeli foreign ministry’s deputy for Europe Anna Azari. “We are very concerned about the clause in the coalition agreement that paves the way for annexing parts of the West Bank. The annexation of any part of the West Bank constitutes a clear violation of international law,” the EU’s Ambassadors said. The countries are, UK, Germany, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and Belgium,
For his part, the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories occupied since 1967, Michael Link, warned that the Israeli government’s plans to annex parts of the occupied West Bank would create a series of -dir-e consequences for human rights, and would be a severe blow to the rules-based international system, undermining any possibilities for fair settlement. Meanwhile, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator, Jimmy McGoldrick, called in the bi-monthly report issued by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OCHA) on the occupation authorities to stop the demolitions of Palestinian homes in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem.

In the UK, a number of British politicians have called on British PM Boris Johnson to impose sanctions against Israel if it goes ahead with its plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank. In a letter organized by 130 current and former MPs from across the political spectrum expressed their outrage at Israel’s West Bank annexation plan. “International law is crystal clear. The acquisition of territory through war is prohibited,” the letter said. This came after Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu set July 1st for the start of cabinet discussions on extending Israeli appropriation to settlements in the West Bank and annexing the Jordan Valley. The letter by the British politicians described annexing West Bank as a “mortal blow” to peace efforts and the so-called two-state solution. Israel, they also said, is taking advantage of the spread of the new coronavirus to ‘implement this egregious plan’.

In Jerusalem, mayor of the occupation municipality, Moshe Leon, intends to present a draft resolution to the municipal council, according to which right-wing activist, Ari King will be appointed as his deputy. King is known for his extensive activities to Judaize East Jerusalem by evicting Palestinian families from their homes, as is the case in the Sheikh Jarrah Neighborhood and elsewhere in East Jerusalem. King devotes most of his work to searching for heirs of Jewish property that has existed in Palestinian neighborhoods of the city since before 1948, and to recruit investors to establish settlements, while the Meretz bloc announced that it would resign from the coalition after the appointment of King. Knowing that the Municipal Planning and Building Committee also announced the approval of a plan submitted by King to build 140 housing units for Jews in the Beit-Hanina Neighborhood, north of Jerusalem.

Occupation forces and settler gangs’ violations in other governorates of the West Bank continue. In Nablus Governorate, several dunums of Palestinian land in Burin, south of Nablus, adjacent to the Yitzhar settlement were demolished, to expand the settlement at the expense of the Palestinian lands. Furthermore, they cut about 40 perennial olive trees in the Al-Wadi area of Al-Sawiya town, south of Nablus. Several vehicles were destroyed, tires were damaged and racist slogans were written on the walls of the villages of Sur and Til.
In the Jordan Valley, large areas of the pastoral lands in Al-Maleh area in the northern Jordan Valley were set to fire due to military trainings, to compel people there leave the area. Moreover, the occupation authorities handed over dozens of expel notifications to families in several areas in the Jordan Valley since the beginning of this year.
In Bethlehem, settlers erected a tent in the Wadi al-khanazeer area near the Al-Jab a village, leveling large area of lands in Wadi Fukin village, uprooting many forestry and fruitful trees, sweeping vast areas in the Derastia village, west of Salfiti in order to open roads, expand the settlement, build more caravans and build settlement units.

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