AP, London :
Britain urged Israel to halt its “counterproductive” settlement expansion on Thursday, saying it was illegal under international law.
The Foreign Office reiterated its position on the settlements after the United States on Monday effectively backed Israel’s right to build Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.
“The position of the UK on settlements is clear,” it said in a statement. “They are illegal under international law, present an obstacle to peace, and threaten the viability of a two-state solution. We urge Israel to halt its counterproductive settlement expansion.”
Meanwhile, Pakistan on Thursday reiterated its position on ‘illegal’ Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory and rejected a recent announcement by the United States that it would no longer consider Jewish settlements in the West Bank as unlawful. On Monday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo abandoned the decades-old position that settlements in Israeli-occupied territory were “inconsistent with international law”, reversing a stand taken under President Jimmy Carter in 1978.
Israel started building settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the wake of the Six-Day War in June 1967.
The UN human rights office has said the settlements remain in breach of international law, echoing a position taken by the International Court of Justice in an advisory opinion in 2004.
At a weekly press briefing on Thursday, the spokesman for the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: “Pakistan’s position on the illegal settlements in the Palestinian occupied territory remains unchanged in line with several security council resolutions especially resolution 465 of 1980, resolution 1860 of 2009, and more recently resolution 2334 adopted in 2016.”
“We consider all the Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank illegal under international law,” Foreign Office spokesman Dr. Muhammed Faisal said, adding that the US administration’s endorsement legitimizing the settlements “would further hamper the viability of the two states solution and prospects of a lasting peace in the region.” Pakistan does not recognize the state of Israel and has repeatedly called for an independent Palestinian state based on “internationally agreed parameters” and the pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
The foreign office spokesman suggested this was the only acceptable solution which would “guarantee sustainable peace in West Asia.”
As an Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) coordinator on the Palestine issue, Islamabad tables five resolutions on Palestine every year. These pertain to: human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem; Palestinian right to self-determination; Israeli settlements in Palestine and in the occupied Syrian Golan; human rights in the occupied Syrian Golan; and accountability and justice for all violations of international law in the occupied territories, including East Jerusalem, in the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) sessions.
Britain urged Israel to halt its “counterproductive” settlement expansion on Thursday, saying it was illegal under international law.
The Foreign Office reiterated its position on the settlements after the United States on Monday effectively backed Israel’s right to build Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.
“The position of the UK on settlements is clear,” it said in a statement. “They are illegal under international law, present an obstacle to peace, and threaten the viability of a two-state solution. We urge Israel to halt its counterproductive settlement expansion.”
Meanwhile, Pakistan on Thursday reiterated its position on ‘illegal’ Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory and rejected a recent announcement by the United States that it would no longer consider Jewish settlements in the West Bank as unlawful. On Monday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo abandoned the decades-old position that settlements in Israeli-occupied territory were “inconsistent with international law”, reversing a stand taken under President Jimmy Carter in 1978.
Israel started building settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the wake of the Six-Day War in June 1967.
The UN human rights office has said the settlements remain in breach of international law, echoing a position taken by the International Court of Justice in an advisory opinion in 2004.
At a weekly press briefing on Thursday, the spokesman for the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: “Pakistan’s position on the illegal settlements in the Palestinian occupied territory remains unchanged in line with several security council resolutions especially resolution 465 of 1980, resolution 1860 of 2009, and more recently resolution 2334 adopted in 2016.”
“We consider all the Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank illegal under international law,” Foreign Office spokesman Dr. Muhammed Faisal said, adding that the US administration’s endorsement legitimizing the settlements “would further hamper the viability of the two states solution and prospects of a lasting peace in the region.” Pakistan does not recognize the state of Israel and has repeatedly called for an independent Palestinian state based on “internationally agreed parameters” and the pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
The foreign office spokesman suggested this was the only acceptable solution which would “guarantee sustainable peace in West Asia.”
As an Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) coordinator on the Palestine issue, Islamabad tables five resolutions on Palestine every year. These pertain to: human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem; Palestinian right to self-determination; Israeli settlements in Palestine and in the occupied Syrian Golan; human rights in the occupied Syrian Golan; and accountability and justice for all violations of international law in the occupied territories, including East Jerusalem, in the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) sessions.
