Qatar denounced on Tuesday the Israeli government’s approval of 19 illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, terming it an infringement on the rights of the Palestinian people.
On December 11, Israel’s Security Cabinet approved a plan to legalise 19 settlements in the occupied West Bank, upon the proposal of far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
In a statement on social media platform X, the Qatari foreign ministry called the approval a flagrant violation of international resolutions and “a blatant infringement on the rights of the Palestinian people.”
The ministry reiterated Qatar’s unwavering support for the Palestinian people and their legitimate right under international resolutions to establish an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The statement called on the international community to assume its legal and moral responsibilities to pile pressure on Israel to halt its expansionist settlement policy in the occupied Palestinian territories.
About 500,000 illegal Israeli settlers live in settlements across the occupied West Bank, while another 250,000 live in settlements built on land in occupied East Jerusalem, according to the Israeli rights group Peace Now.
The UN has repeatedly affirmed that Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories are illegal under international law, warning that they undermine prospects for a two-state solution.
Last July, the International Court of Justice issued a landmark opinion that declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
