Palestinian Foreign Ministry Holds International Community Accountable for Israeli Persistence in Deepening Colonialism

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs considered the Israeli occupation authorities' transfer of lands in the Bethlehem Governorate to the Nahal Helitz settlement to be due to the international failure to implement the relevant UN resolutions, especially Resolution No. 2334. In a statement, the ministry stressed that the international failure encourages the occupation government to continue the appropriation of the West Bank land and the deepening of colonial activities. The ministry said that Israel's appropriation of 338 dunums of land in Bethlehem Governorate in favor of turning the nearby Nahal Heletz outpost into a colony, is part of an expansionary colonial policy that includes the construction and legalization of dozens of colonial outposts, the expansion of existing colonies and the construction of a large network of roads to transform all the colonies into a huge geographically connected cluster, devouring the largest area of citizens' land in the occupied West Bank. The ministry emphasized t hat the occupation government is deepening its intensification of colonial construction, while continuing to demolish Palestinian homes and facilities under flimsy pretexts and excuses such as lack of permits, specifically within areas classified as /B/ in the West Bank, in addition to what is happening continuously in Masafer Yatta, Al Aghwar, and Jerusalem, and the distribution of more demolition notices in the Nuweima area in the Jericho Governorate. The ministry also stressed that the escalation of demolitions and the distribution of demolition notices represent the most heinous expression of colonialism and the crime of ethnic cleansing, a public disregard for international legitimacy decisions, international law, and the advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice, and undermine any opportunity to revive the peace process on the basis of the two-state solution. Source: Qatar News Agency