The President of the United Nations General Assembly, Abdulla Shahid, denounced the illegal settlement expansion of the Israeli occupation in Palestinian territories.
In an online conference of the Committee on the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Shahid stated that the illegal Israeli settlement expansion on Palestinian land is stopping the two parties from achieving peace and reconciliation, adding that the current situation in east of Jerusalem increases tension and resentment, and deprives the Palestinians of their right to their land.
Shahid stressed that this would result in prolonging the cycle of violence that has been ongoing for too long.
The United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, had recently expressed his “grave concern on settlement expansion by Israel in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.”
He stressed that the expansion of settlement construction continues to fuel violence in the occupied Palestinian territory, stabilises the occupation, and undermines the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and the possibility of establishing an independent state.
He pointed out that 670,000 Israeli citizens are living in more than 130 illegal settlements and more than 100 outposts in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
The UN resolutions of the Security Council and the General Assembly affirm that the Israeli settlements built on the occupied Palestinian territories are “illegitimate, illegal and constitute a war crime.”
