Responding to the announcement by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that the US will no longer consider Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank to be “inconsistent with international law”, Ibrahim Ibraigheth, country director of ActionAid Palestine, says:
“International law, United Nations resolutions and the majority of world governments are clear: Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank including East Jerusalem are illegal.
This is the latest in a series of dangerous, unilateral and unlawful announcements from the Trump administration, which are creating insurmountable barriers to the right to self-determination, peace and justice for Palestinians.
It is women and children who are suffering most from the violence, Israeli blockades and continued denial of basic rights to healthcare, education and work in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Young people are losing hope for their futures.
The international community must hold the US accountable for acting in violation of international law and for failing to uphold UN resolutions that condemn acts of occupation and oppression.”
Background:
The current U.S. administration has taken a series of unilateral decisions that began with President Donald Trump’s move in December 2017 to officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
In August 2018, the US withdrew funding for UNRWA (the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees).
A month later, it announced the closure of the Palestine Liberation Organisation office in Washington, in a further attack on the rights of Palestinians.