Amman, Dec 13 (Petra)- The Ministry of Foreign and Expatriate Affairs strongly condemned Israel’s approval of the establishment and legalization of 19 illegal colonial settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The ministry said the move constitutes a flagrant violation of international law and international humanitarian law, undermines efforts to achieve the two-state solution, and represents a clear breach of the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, an end to the occupation, and the establishment of an independent, sovereign state on the pre-June 4, 1967 borders, with occupied Jerusalem as its capital. It stressed that Israel has no sovereignty over the occupied West Bank.

The ministry’s spokesperson, Fouad Al-Majali, reiterated Jordan’s condemnation and absolute rejection of the continuation of what he described as the extremist Israeli government’s settlement projects and plans in the occupied West Bank, noting that they entrench occupation and settlement expansion, undermine the international will supporting the two-state solution, and violate international law and relevant international legitimacy resolutions.

He referred in particular to UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which condemns all Israeli measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, as well as the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice affirming the illegality of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory, the invalidity of settlement construction, and the nullity of annexation measures in the occupied West Bank.

Al-Majali called on the international community to shoulder its legal and moral responsibilities by compelling Israel to halt its dangerous escalation and illegal, unilateral actions in the occupied West Bank and to ensure the fulfillment of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, foremost the establishment of their independent state on their national soil, as the only path to a just and comprehensive peace that guarantees security and stability in the region.

//Petra// AF