\u2022 Nations from Algeria to Zimbabwe, Arab League, OIC and EU take issue with unilateral decisions aimed at expanding unlawful Israeli presence
\n\u2022 Israeli NGO warns against expansion of settlements \u2018into Jerusalem\u2019
\n\u2022 Imam of Al Aqsa barred from entering mosque compound<\/p>\n
JERUSALEM: As Israeli authorities barred the imam of Al Aqsa Mosque from entering the compound, 93 states \u2014 including the eight-nation Muslim bloc \u2014 slammed Tel Aviv\u2019s move to designate lands in the occupied West Bank as so-called \u201cstate land\u201d.<\/p>\n
Last week, the Israeli cabinet approved measures that would increase Israeli civilian authority in Areas A and B of the West Bank, which together constitute roughly 40 per cent of the territory.<\/p>\n
Israeli NGOs have also raised alarm over the government\u2019s settlement plan, which they say would mark the first expansion of Jerusalem\u2019s borders into the occupied West Bank since 1967.<\/p>\n
According to a statement, issued by the Palestinian mission to the United Nations, 85 nations as well as the European Union (EU), Organisation for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and Arab League called for the immediate reversal of the Israeli annexation of the West Bank.<\/p>\n
States who signed up to the latest statement include Algeria, Andorra, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chad, China, Colombia, Cuba, Cyprus, North Korea, Denmark, Djibouti, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guyana, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Liberia, Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, South Korea, Russia, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, The Gambia, Turkiye, Uganda, UAE, Tanzania, UK, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Yemen and Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n
An earlier statement from the foreign ministers of the eight-nation Muslim bloc also condemned Israel for approving procedures for the registration and settlement of land ownership across extensive areas of the occupied West Bank.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis illegal step constitutes a grave escalation aimed at accelerating illegal settlement activity, land confiscation, entrenching Israeli control, and applying unlawful Israeli sovereignty over the Occupied Palestinian Territory and undermining the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people,\u201d said the statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis step reflects an attempt to impose a new legal and administrative reality designed to consolidate control over the occupied land, thereby undermining the two-state solution, eroding the prospects for the establishment of an independent and viable Palestinian State, and jeopardising the attainment of a just and comprehensive peace in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n
Warning by NGOs<\/p>\n
The planned development, announced by Israel\u2019s Ministry of Construction and Housing, is formally a westward expansion of the Geva Binyamin, or Adam, settlement situated north-east of Jerusalem in the West Bank.<\/p>\n
But the area to be developed lies on the Israeli side of the separation barrier built in the early 2000s, while Geva Binyamin sits on the West Bank side of the barrier, and the two are separated by a road. In a statement, Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now said there would be no \u201cterritorial or functional connection\u201d between the area to be developed and the settlement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u2022 Nations from Algeria to Zimbabwe, Arab League, OIC and EU take issue with unilateral decisions aimed at expanding unlawful Israeli presence \u2022 Israeli NGO warns against expansion of settlements \u2018into Jerusalem\u2019 \u2022 Imam of Al Aqsa barred from entering mosque compound JERUSALEM: As Israeli authorities barred the imam of Al Aqsa Mosque from entering […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16073,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16072"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16072\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16074,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16072\/revisions\/16074"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}