UN shows concern over Israel’s decision to shorten settlement procedures

The agency’s envoy recalls that the settlements “represent a flagrant violation of International Law”

June 19 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The United Nations has shown on Monday its “deep concern” about the decision of the Government of Israel to shorten the procedures for the approval of the construction of new settlements in the West Bank and has reiterated that they “represent a flagrant violation of International Law”.

The UN special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, has warned that the decision could “accelerate the expansion of the settlements” and has also criticized the preparations for a possible announcement last week on the construction of another 4,000 housing units in settlements.

“I reiterate that the establishment of settlements by Israel in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation of International Law,” he said in a statement published by his office on his account on the social network Twitter.

For this reason, it has asked the Israeli government, headed by Benjamin Netanyahu and made up of ultra-Orthodox and ultra-right parties, to “stop and reverse this type of decision, which is a major obstacle to achieving a two-state solution and a just, lasting and exhaustive”.

“At a time of increased violence and fragility on the ground, the prolonged absence of a political process, and concerted international and regional efforts to support a constructive dialogue for the parties, such steps only alienate Israelis and Palestinians and mean a risk of destabilizing the already very tense situation on the ground,” Wennesland stressed.

The Israeli Council of Ministers approved on Sunday a regulatory amendment that simplifies procedures and reduces the deadlines for the approval of the construction of new Jewish settlements in the West Bank, which led the Palestinian Foreign Ministry to ask the United States to pressure Israel to back off the initiative.

For its part, the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) has also called on the international community to “take serious and urgent measures to stop these Judaization projects that will bring further escalation in the region and threaten peace and security.” in her”.

The West Bank –including East Jerusalem– and the Gaza Strip –from which Israel withdrew in 2005– were militarily occupied by Israel in the 1967 war along with the Golan Heights –in dispute with Syria–. In total, some 700,000 Jewish settlers live in the West Bank, some of them in colonies considered legal by Israel and some in settlements considered illegal even by the Israeli government. International Law considers the colonization of militarily occupied territories a war crime.