PA Calls for Sanctions Mechanism if Israel Annexes West Bank

Palestinians rally against Israel's annexation plans in the occupied West Bank village of Bardala on June 27. (AFP)
Palestinians rally against Israel's annexation plans in the occupied West Bank village of Bardala on June 27. (AFP)
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PA Calls for Sanctions Mechanism if Israel Annexes West Bank

Palestinians rally against Israel's annexation plans in the occupied West Bank village of Bardala on June 27. (AFP)
Palestinians rally against Israel's annexation plans in the occupied West Bank village of Bardala on June 27. (AFP)

The international community is demanded to adopt a sanctions, boycott and isolation mechanism against Israel, in order to protect peace, security and stability, announced Palestinian Foreign Minister, Riyad al-Maliki.

Speaking at the ninth session of the Ministerial Meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum (CASCF) via video conference, Maliki said that Israel must realize that its violation of international law will not go on without practical responses.

The session was co-chaired by Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and Chinese Foreign Minister and State Councilor Wang Yi, and attended by foreign ministers of Arab League member states.

Maliki accused Israel of exploiting the world's preoccupation with the coronavirus pandemic to announce its "racist colonial plans" to seize more Palestinian land by force and annex them to so-called "Israeli sovereignty."

He described it as a "flagrant violation" of the international law, international resolutions, the United Nations Charter and agreements that regulate international relations and those concerning the Palestinian cause and Arab-Israeli conflict.

He also accused the current US administration of supporting illegal Israeli annexation plans.

The FM said the important issue today is preventing the annexation and ending the occupation. He questioned whether the international political and legal stances are enough to deter Israel from implementing its plans to annex over 30 percent of the Palestinian territory occupied in 1967.

The Palestinian Authority is calling for a United Nations General Assembly session to announce the formation of an international coalition against the annexation and holding Israel accountable.

The Palestinians are trying to form a unified Arab and international position, including setting up a practical mechanism to impose sanctions if Israel goes ahead with the annexation, and threatening to review treaties signed with Tel Aviv.

The current Palestinian pressure does not eliminate the resumption of negotiations, and Maliki said the Palestinian leadership and its people are committed to a just and comprehensive peace.

He stressed the leadership’s willingness to return to negotiations on the foundations established by international legitimacy within a multilateral framework, according to an international conference called in the event the annexation was canceled. He said it aims for a peace agreement that ends Israeli occupation.



Lebanon Security Source Says Hezbollah Official Targeted in Beirut Strike

Civil defense members work as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
Civil defense members work as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
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Lebanon Security Source Says Hezbollah Official Targeted in Beirut Strike

Civil defense members work as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
Civil defense members work as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

A Lebanese security source said the target of a deadly Israeli airstrike on central Beirut early Saturday was a senior Hezbollah official, adding it was unclear whether he was killed.

"The Israeli strike on Basta targeted a leading Hezbollah figure," the security official told AFP without naming the figure, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

The early morning airstrike has killed at least 15 people and injured 63, according to authorities, and had brought down an eight-storey building nearby, in the second such attack on the working-class neighbourhood of Basta in as many months.

"The strike was so strong it felt like the building was about to fall on our heads," said Samir, 60, who lives with his family in a building facing the one that was hit.

"It felt like they had targeted my house," he said, asking to be identified by only his first name because of security concerns.

There had been no evacuation warning issued by the Israeli military for the Basta area.

After the strike, Samir fled his home in the middle of the night with his wife and two children, aged 14 and just three.

On Saturday morning, dumbstruck residents watched as an excavator cleared the wreckage of the razed building and rescue efforts continued, with nearby buildings also damaged in the attack, AFP journalists reported.

The densely packed district has welcomed people displaced from traditional Hezbollah bastions in Lebanon's east, south and southern Beirut, after Israel intensified its air campaign on September 23, later sending in ground troops.

"We saw two dead people on the ground... The children started crying and their mother cried even more," Samir told AFP, reporting minor damage to his home.

Since last Sunday, four deadly Israeli strikes have hit central Beirut, including one that killed Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Afif.

Residents across the city and its outskirts awoke at 0400 (0200 GMT) on Saturday to loud explosions and the smell of gunpowder in the air.

"It was the first time I've woken up screaming in terror," said Salah, a 35-year-old father of two who lives in the same street as the building that was targeted.

"Words can't express the fear that gripped me," he said.

Saturday's strikes were the second time the Basta district had been targeted since war broke out, after deadly twin strikes early in October hit the area and the Nweiri neighbourhood.

Last month's attacks killed 22 people and had targeted Hezbollah security chief Wafiq Safa, who made it out alive, a source close to the group told AFP.

Salah said his wife and children had been in the northern city of Tripoli, about 70 kilometres away (45 miles), but that he had to stay in the capital because of work.

His family had been due to return this weekend because their school reopens on Monday, but now he has decided against it following the attack.

"I miss them. Every day they ask me: 'Dad, when are we coming home?'" he said.

Lebanon's health ministry says that more than 3,650 people have been killed since October 2023, after Hezbollah initiated exchanges of fire with Israel in solidarity with its Iran-backed ally Hamas over the Gaza war.

However, most of the deaths in Lebanon have been since September this year.

Despite the trauma caused by Saturday's strike, Samir said he and his family had no choice but to return home.

"Where else would I go?" he asked.

"All my relatives and siblings have been displaced from Beirut's southern suburbs and from the south."