Palestinians urge for int’l action against Israeli settlement in West Bank

RAMALLAH—The Palestinians on Sunday called for a binding international resolution to stop the Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank and to save the two-state solution.

In a statement, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said that Israel’s policies on the settlement undermine the two-state solution through unilateral measures that target the existence of Palestinians on those lands.

According to the interim Oslo Accords signed between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel in 1993, the West Bank is divided into three zones: A, B and C, with Area A under Palestinian control, B under Israeli security and Palestinian administrative control, and C under full Israeli control.

The ministry stressed that Israel must be held accountable for its violations and should retract its unilateral measures, most significantly the settlement activity, in order to save the two-state solution.

It added that Israel is trying to take over natural resources for the benefit of Jewish settlers.

Earlier this month, the EU Commission in Jerusalem told Xinhua that the EU demanded Israel to stop its policy of demolishing the EU-sponsored projects for Palestinians in Area C, which were carried out for humanitarian and development purposes.

World powers, including the United States, have condemned the Israeli settlement polity which is considered one of the main disputes between the Palestinians and Israel.

The US-sponsored peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians have been stalled since April 2014. They lasted for nine months with no tangible results achieved.