The Palestinian Foreign Ministry warned on Monday that Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition agreement with far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir is a broad invitation to escalating violence in the conflict.
In a press release, the ministry condemned Israeli media reports that the incoming Netanyahu government has put in place a plan to start construction of 9,000 settlement units in Qalandia outside occupied East Jerusalem, entirely isolate Jerusalem from its surroundings in the north and linking it to Israel proper.
It denounced statements by coalition leaders to allow Jewish settlers more access to pray inside Al-Aqsa Mosque/ Haram Al Sharif compound, give more powers to use live fire against Palestinians and legalize dozens of settlement outposts to turn settlements across the occupied West Bank into a huge geographically contiguous block.
The Palestinian ministry held Netanyahu fully responsible for “this extremist and racist policy” and the policies of his partners in the far-right coalition government.
It vowed to resist the coalition’s plans and uphold legitimate Palestinian rights, adding that it will pursue diplomacy on the international legal track to expose the racist colonial strategy of the new government.
The ministry said it will continue to work for the State of Palestine to become a full member of the United Nations and work with the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice to end “this prolonged occupation and to Israel’s impunity as the occupying power from accountability.”
Source: Jordan News Agency