Saudi Arabia strongly condemns the approval by the Israeli authorities to build settlements around the occupied city of Jerusalem and denounces the Israeli foreign minister’s statements against the establishment of a Palestinian state, the Kingdom’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Riyadh regards these actions as violations of international law, the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and the establishment of their sovereign state, and relevant UN Security Council resolutions, foremost among them Resolution 2234, which demands that Israel cease settlement activities in the occupied West Bank, including east Jerusalem, affirms the illegality of Israel’s settlement construction in the territory occupied since 1967, and refers to the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice affirming the invalidity of annexing the occupied Palestinian territories and the need to end the Israeli occupation, the statement said on Thursday.
“These decisions and statements confirm the continuation of the illegal expansionist policies of this Israeli government, in obstruction of the peace process, and the serious threat to the possibility of a two-state solution,” it said.
Israel's behavior requires the international community to assume its legal and moral responsibilities to provide protection for the Palestinian people, meet their legitimate rights, including recognition of the Palestinian state, compel Israel to cease its aggression against Gaza, halt its illegal violations in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, and stop crimes against the Palestinian people, particularly those amounting to genocide, while holding perpetrators accountable, the ministry stated.
The Kingdom reiterates its “categorical rejection of Israeli policies based on settlement expansion, forced displacement, and the denial of the Palestinian people’s legitimate rights.”
It called on the international community, especially the permanent members of the UN Security Council, to take “immediate measures” to compel the Israeli authorities to stop their crimes against the Palestinian people and the occupied Palestinian territories, and to comply with UN resolutions and international law.
