Palestine: US Position Against Settlements is Insufficient

Palestine has welcomed the position of the US administration's opposition to settlement establishment in the West Bank, but said it was not enough, demanding real pressure to stop all Israeli violations in the Palestinian territories.

Member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Minister Hussein al-Sheikh welcomed the US State Department's rejection of Israeli settlement expansion and the construction of new units in the West Bank.

He also lauded the position of the US ambassador to Israel on the matter.

"We hope that this position will turn into serious pressure to stop all Israeli escalatory measures that destroy the very foundation of the two-state solution," said Sheikh.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry also welcomed the US position but said it was insufficient and did not rise to the level of the settlement crime.

Israeli authorities approved the establishment of 4,000 new settlement units in the West Bank, which will require the demolition of 12 villages in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron Governorate, and the seizure of 22,000 dunams in the Jordan Valley.

"These plans are a flagrant violation of international law and the Geneva Conventions, a coup against signed agreements. [They] inflame tension and undermine trust and the two-state solution," the ministry said.

The Foreign Ministry said the Israeli government is fully and directly responsible for these expansionist colonial plans and their impact on achieving peace, noting that they are considered a war crime and a crime against humanity.

The US State Department rejected Israeli plans to expand settlements in the West Bank and said it damages the prospects of a two-state solution.

In a telephone briefing, US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Jalina Porter said that the Biden administration has been clear from the outset.

"We strongly oppose the expansion of settlements which exacerbates tensions and undermines trust between the parties. Israel's program of expanding settlements deeply damages the prospect for a two-state solution."

The Israeli announcement came when arrangements were made for Biden's visit to the region.

Israeli media said that the US urged Tel Aviv to refrain from taking unilateral steps, including pushing for settlement projects, before Biden's visit.

Palestinian presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudaineh said the Israeli plan "amounts to forced displacement and ethnic cleansing, in violation of international law and relevant UN Security Council resolutions."

He warned that it is "dangerous, condemned and rejected," and "all of the Israeli demolitions, evictions, and settlements fall within the framework of the apartheid regime that the occupation applies to the Palestinians and their lands amid international silence."

The PA official stressed that "this will have serious consequences on the ground," attributing full responsibility for the consequences to the Israeli government.

PM Mohammad Shtayyeh also warned of the "serious consequences" that would result from the approval of the plan, saying it constitutes a "threat to security and peace in the region, which is in a state of tension due to the policies and practices of persecution, racism and ethnic cleansing pursued by the occupation government against the Palestinian people."

He too called on the US administration "to intervene urgently to stop these violations."

Hamas also pledged to confront Israeli decisions with "more steadfastness and comprehensive confrontation."

The Arab League warned of the repercussions of the Israeli occupation government's approval to construct 4,000 new settlement units, saying they impact international security and stability.

The General Secretariat stressed that these plans are discriminatory and are added to a long series of Israeli crimes amid international silence.

The statement described the settlement plans as war crimes and crimes against humanity under the provisions of international law, stressing the need to implement international legitimacy resolutions, provide international protection for the Palestinian people, and end the occupation.

Italy plans to send an ambassador back to Syria after a decade-long absence, the country’s foreign minister said, in a diplomatic move that could spark divisions among European Union allies.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, speaking in front of relevant parliamentary committees Thursday, announced Rome’s intention to re-establish diplomatic ties with Syria to prevent Russia from monopolizing diplomatic efforts in the Middle Eastern country.

Moscow is considered a key supporter of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has remained in power despite widespread Western isolation and civilian casualties since the start of Syria’s civil war in March 2011.

Peaceful protests against the Assad government — part of the so-called “Arab Spring” popular uprisings that spread across some of the Middle East — were met by a brutal crackdown, and the uprising quickly spiraled into a full-blown civil war.

The conflict was further complicated by the intervention of foreign forces on all sides and a rising militancy, first by al-Qaida-linked groups and then the ISIS group until its defeat on the battlefield in 2019.

The war, which has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million, is now largely frozen, despite ongoing low-level fighting.

The country is effectively carved up into areas controlled by the Damascus-based government of Assad, various opposition groups and Syrian Kurdish forces.

In the early days of the conflict, many Western and Arab countries cut off relations with Syria, including Italy, which has since managed Syria-related diplomacy through its embassy in Beirut.

However, since Assad has regained control over most of the territory, neighboring Arab countries have gradually restored relations, with the most symbolically significant move coming last year when Syria was re-admitted to the Arab League.

Tajani said Thursday the EU’s policy in Syria should be adapted to the “development of the situation,” adding that Italy has received support from Austria, Croatia, Greece, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Cyprus and Slovakia.

However, the US and allied countries in Europe have largely continued to hold firm in their stance against Assad’s government, due to concerns over human rights violations.

Palestine: US Position Against Settlements is Insufficient