annexation plan Archives - Iran News Daily

OIC Rejects Israeli Annexation Plan

reporter 1222 — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 09:03:18 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – The secretary-general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) sent letters to the ministers of foreign affairs of the member states of the UNSC and members of the International Quartet rejecting the Israeli annexation plan for West Bank.

This initiative came pursuant to the relevant resolution adopted by the OIC Executive Committee convened at the level of foreign ministers on June 10, 2020.

In his letters, OIC secretary-general underscored the need for the international community to assume its responsibilities and called on the UNSC to take the measures necessary to prevent Israeli annexation plans and compel Israel, the occupying power, to halt all its illegal practices and honor its obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention and relevant UN resolutions.

He also conveyed to the members of the International Quartet the content of the said resolution, which requested holding an emergency meeting to save the chances of peace, pursue work to launch a multilateral internationally-sponsored political process to achieve the two-state solution and realize the sovereignty of the State of Palestine within the 1967 borders, with Al-Quds as its capital, in line with international terms of reference, including UN resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had set July 1 for the start of cabinet discussions on extending “Israeli sovereignty” to Israeli settlements, illegal under international law, in the occupied West Bank and annexing outright the Jordan Valley.

Netanyahu’s scheme however has not gone exactly as planned due to increasing rifts within his ruling coalition.

The Palestinians have already threatened to cancel existing peace agreements if Netanyahu moves forward with his plan, while the European Union foreign policy chief said annexation would be a violation of international law and force the bloc to “act accordingly”. The UN’s Middle East envoy said such a step would “ignite” the region.

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Jordan urges counteract West Bank annexation

reporter 1222 — Thu, 28 May 2020 08:10:52 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – The Foreign Minister of Jordan referred to the catastrophic consequences of the Zionist regime’s plan for the annexation of the West Bank and called for immediate action by the international community to counter it.

In a phone conversation with the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nikolai Mladenov, Jordan Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi referred to the catastrophic consequences of any annexation of West Bank lands for regional security and stability.

Al-Safadi maintained that the annexation plan would lead to the destruction of the bilateral solutions and the escalation of tensions.

He further noted that protecting peace and international laws require immediate action by the international community to counter this plan.

The Jordanian Foreign Minister also briefed Mladenov on Jordan’s efforts to achieve a clear and effective international position in order to prevent the implementation of the Israeli plan.

Mladenov also said that the United Nations is striving to hold a meeting on how to save the peace process.

Israeli regime’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the chairman of the Blue and White Coalition Benny Gantz recently agreed to form a coalition cabinet regarding the annexation of the Jordanian Valley and the Zionist settlements in the West Bank in early July. Tel Aviv’s decision has drawn strong opposition from Palestinian groups and regional organizations.

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UNSC resolution draft slams Israel annexation plan

reporter 1222 — Thu, 06 Feb 2020 06:08:30 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – A draft UNSC resolution condemned Israel’s plan for annexation of the settlements it has built illegally on occupied Palestinian territories in a rebuke of a US-devised scheme that endorses such land theft.

The draft, which was reported on by Reuters, has been drawn up by Palestinians and circulated to council members by Tunisia and Indonesia, Press TV reported.

The UNSC draft resolution “stresses the illegality of the annexation of any part” of the occupied Palestinian territories and “condemns recent statements calling for annexation by Israel” of these territories.

Last Tuesday, US President Donald Trump unveiled the outlines of his so-called “deal of the century,” which features Israel’s annexation of the apartment blocks that it has propped up across the West Bank since occupying the Palestinian territory during a war in 1967.

More than 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 settlements built on the land since the occupation.

The deal also envisions the recognition of Al-Quds as Israel’s “capital”— although Palestinians want the occupied holy city’s eastern part as the capital of their future state.

All previous foreign-mediated agreements between Palestinians and Israelis as well as repeated United Nations’ resolutions have mandated Tel Aviv to withdraw behind the 1967 borders.

All Palestinian factions have unanimously rejected Trump’s plan. Palestine stopped recognizing the US as a mediator in the Middle East process when Trump, in December 2017, recognized occupied Al-Quds as Israel’s “capital.”

Trump had announced the scheme — masterminded by his son-in-law and advisor Jared Kushner among other key pro-Israeli figures — some two years ago, but had withheld its details.

The draft “strongly regrets” that the Trump plan “breaches international law” and UN resolutions.

The deal also “undermines the inalienable rights and national aspirations of the Palestinian people, including to self-determination and independence,” the draft says.

The resolution stresses the need for an acceleration of international and regional efforts to launch “credible negotiations on all final status issues in the Middle East peace process without exception.”

It is expected to be submitted to a vote at the Security Council on February 11, coinciding with a visit by Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority.

However, Washington is almost certain to cast its veto against this resolution as usual.

The Palestinians, who have vowed to have their complaints heard at the UN, are next expected to take their objection to the UN General Assembly (UNGA), where Washington cannot strike down any approved resolutions.

Observers say a potential UNGA resolution would serve to reflect the overall international reception of the plot, which has mostly been negative.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also reasserted the world body’s firm stance against any potential annexation of the Palestinian lands in an indirect attack on the US scheme.

“Our position is very clear. We are the guardians of the UN resolutions and international law in relation to the Palestinian question,” he told a wide-ranging news conference at the UN’s headquarters in New York on Tuesday. “We are totally committed to the two-state solution,” based on the 1967 borders.

Also on Tuesday, the European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell rejected the annexation clause featured in Trump’s plan.

EU governments attach no legal status to the settlements built in the West Bank and Syria’s Golan Heights since Israel’s occupation of the lands, he said, repeating the bloc’s stance on the matter.

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