OCCCUPIED PALESTINE, (ST)- Israel on Sunday revealed a plan to double the number of Israeli settlers in the West bank city of al-Khalil (Hebron) by exposing a new settlement project in the city only two weeks after the US announced that it did not consider illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories to be in breach of international law.
The plan was announced by Israel’s Minister for Military Affairs Naftali Bennett. It will involve demolishing a wholesale market in al-Khalil and replacing it with a new settlement neighborhood.
In Ramallah, the Palestinian presidency condemned the Israeli new settlement project, affirming that this announcement represents the first tangible results of Trump’s administration attempts to legitimize settlement activity, which is a prelude step for annexation, according to the Palestinian WAFA News Agency.
The presidency said that the Israeli plan constitutes a blatant violation of the international law, the UN resolutions and the signed agreements, slamming it as a new provocative step that is totally rejected.
It called on the international community to promptly act against these Israeli measures starting with a comprehensive boycott of Israeli colonial settlement.
It stressed that the establishment of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with al-Quds as its capital is the only solution to achieve peace, security, and stability in the region.
Hamda Mustafa