Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz’s office said on Wednesday that he had ordered “exceptional and harsh measure” and ties suspension in response to UN Commissioners Bachelet’s office “serving the BDS campaign,” referring to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement —an international campaign promoting various forms of boycott against the Tel Aviv regime until it meets its obligations under international law, Press TV reported.

It also noted that the Israeli foreign minister intends to protect the companies operating in the occupied territories.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released a list of 112 companies that conduct business in Israeli settlements across the West Bank.

Of the entities listed, 94 are domiciled in the occupied lands and 18 in the US, France, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Thailand, and the UK.

The database took almost four years to complete, after being mandated in a resolution passed by the UN Human Rights Council in 2016.

The resolution urged the OHCHR to produce a “database for all businesses engaged in specific activities related to Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the UN list as the work of a “biased and uninfluential body.”

“Instead of dealing with human rights, this body is trying to blacken Israel’s name. We reject any such attempt in the strongest terms and with disgust,” he said in a statement. “Whoever boycotts us will be boycotted.”

Palestinian officials, however, welcomed the release of the settlement blacklist.

In a post on his Facebook page, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh said that his country would “pursue” the firms included in the UN list.

“We will pursue the companies listed in the report legally through international legal institutions and through the courts in their countries for their role in violating human rights,” he said.

He also called for the companies operating in the West Bank to immediately close their offices and branches there, saying they violated international law and UN resolutions.

“We will demand compensation for illegally using our occupied lands and for engaging in economic activity in our lands without submitting to Palestinian laws and paying taxes,” Shtayyeh added, suggesting that the companies could move to areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority to avoid potential retribution.

Moreover, Secretary-General of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Saeb Erekat called the UN list a boon to the credibility of the UN Human Rights Council “in the face of the fierce attack and the intense pressure that the Trump administration places on these institutions.”

“While this list does not include all the companies profiting from Israel’s illegal colonial-settlement enterprise in occupied Palestine, it’s a crucial first step to restore hope in multilateralism and international law,” he said in a statement.

The list, he emphasized, “should serve as a reminder to the international community on the importance of strengthening the tools to implement international law at a time when the illegality of Israeli settlements is being challenged.”

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki also hailed the release of the list as “a victory for international law.”

In a statement posted on the ministry’s Facebook page, he urged the UN Human Rights Council member states to study the list and instruct the companies cited on it to terminate their activities in the Israeli settlements.

Similarly, Human Rights Watch stressed that the database helps businesses end “complicity in rights abuses” and “should put all companies on notice.”

The blacklist “should put all companies on notice: to do business with illegal settlements is to aid in the commission of war crimes,” said HRW’s Deputy Executive Director for Advocacy Bruno Stagno.

Saeed Abu Ali, Arab League assistant secretary-general for Palestine and the occupied Arab territories, described the UN list as an important step towards supporting the Palestinians’ rights against the crimes committed by the occupying regime, especially the construction of settlements.

He further called on the international community to devise a mechanism to punish Israel and oblige the regime to respect international law.

More than 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem (al-Quds).

Emboldened by US President Donald Trump’s all-out support, Israel has stepped up its settlement construction activities in defiance of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334, which pronounced settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem (al-Quds) “a flagrant violation under international law.”

Much of the international community regards the Israeli settler units in the occupied lands as illegal.

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The statement also condemned Israel’s forced displacement of Palestinian citizens in violation of international humanitarian law, calling these criminal acts a threat to international peace, security and stability in the Middle East and the world.

It slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s stated intention to “apply Israeli sovereignty on all of the Jordan Valley, northern Dead Sea and settlements in the occupied West Bank”, describing it as a dangerous escalation, a further serious encroachment on the historical and legal rights of the Palestinian people, and a flagrant breach of the UN Charter and international law.

It called on the international community to take all measures required to confront Israel “including boycotting and imposing economic and political sanctions”.

It urged all OIC member states to raise the issue of Palestine and the illegitimate Israeli occupation during the 74th UN General Assembly next week.

It said peace and security in the Middle East could not be achieved without a full Israeli withdrawal from the 1967 occupied territory of Palestine, including Jerusalem.

The OIC member countries stressed their support for the Palestinian efforts to gain greater international recognition of the State of Palestine on the borders of June 4, 1967, calling on nations that have not yet recognized the State of Palestine to do so as soon as possible.

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Calling the Israeli PM the ‘little Hitler’, he said that Netanyahu is seeking to ignite a war in the region with the support of the Trump administration and the money of some oil-rich countries and then, to shelter from damages of the war under US support.

“In case of this measure’s realization, which is a violation of international law, the Palestinian nation and the Resistance will teach a great lesson to Zionists for playing with fire,” added the Iranian Parliamentary Director General for International Affairs.

He also called on international bodies and all countries to take practical steps to stop the Israeli regime’s measures which threaten global peace and security.

“The Zionist regime Prime Minister and Zionists should abandon their dreams and know that the Palestinian and regional fighters cannot wait to teach an unforgettable and historic lesson to Zionists with all their power and experience from 33-day and Gaza wars. And Netanyahu is helping earlier destruction of Israel by his efforts to stay in power.”

Netanyahu has promised to go ahead with the annexation plan in case he emerges victorious in the forthcoming votes. “Today I announce my intention to apply with the formation of the next government Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and northern Dead Sea,” Netanyahu said in a speech broadcast live on Israeli TV channels on Tuesday evening.

The remarks were condemned by the international community. Ironically enough, Saudi Arabia that has been seeking to normalize ties with Israel also criticized Netanyahu for this “dangerous escalation against the Palestinian people” and called for an emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres voiced concern over announced Israeli plans, saying that if realized, such a measure will be “a serious violation of international law.”

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyyed Abbas Mousavi strongly condemned the remarks, saying, “Netanyahu is seeking to win votes for staying in power and proceeding with expansionism and aggression by making allegations against the Islamic Republic of Iran one day, and expressing his sinister intention to annex more parts of Palestine the other day.”

“The Islamic Republic of Iran would support any collective action by Muslim countries to prevent the continuation of acts of aggression and expansionism of the regime that has usurped Palestine,” he also added.

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“Certainly, there is no mention of how the Palestinian land was seized from them to make the State of Israel. And subsequently, Israel acted against international law, in occupying more land in Palestine. These have not been mentioned often.”

“The main thing that we think we should always stress is the causes of terrorism. Today, there is already a consensus almost to blame terrorism on Muslims. But the fact you said, after the seizure of Palestine, and the disregard of international law by Israel, this has led to so-called acts of terrorism. But in order to get rid of terrorism, we need to know the reason why they terrorize. In Malaysia, we planned to win the hearts and minds of people, including all terrorists in Malaysia, and the terrorism came to an end. But unless you treat the causes of terrorism, you are not going to be able to stop terrorism,” he also added.

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Buying the American F35 jets and threatening to attack other countries is another measure by the regime, which would help trigger conflicts, he added.

“Such behaviors show their [the Israelis] constant policy of warmongering and adoption of military games in the region,” he said while rebuking the western countries, especially the US, for aggravating the situation in recent years by increasing their military cooperation with the occupying regime.

On July 9 and during a visit to air force base,  Israeli regime’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened Tehran that the regime’s F-35 fighter jets can reach “anywhere in the Middle East.”

“Iran should remember that these planes can reach every place in the Middle East, including Iran, and of course also Syria,” said Netanyahu.

However, many experts believe such claims are laughable and beyond Israel’s capability.

Reacting to Netanyahu’s threats, Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami said last week that any violation of the country’s sovereignty after would be retaliated with a crushing response.

“Any enemy which seeks to violate the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran, be it at any level, will receive a decisive and crushing response it shall regret,” Brigadier General Hatami said.

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The participants affirmed their commitment to the homeland and asserting that the Golan always was and always will be a Syrian land and that the declaration of US President Donald Trump on Golan has no value because he cannot grant what he does not possess.

The activity began in Sweida, going through several provinces before arriving at Tartous on Saturday evening, from which it will continue until it reaches its final destination: the UN HQ in Damascus, to which the participants will deliver a letter protesting Trump’s declaration on the occupied Syrian Golan.

On March 25, Trumped signed a proclamation, formally recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over Golan Heights.

Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, in a statement, called the US decision a “blatant attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity” of Syria.

Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria after the 1967 Six-Day War and later occupied it in a move that has never been recognized by the international community. The regime has built dozens of settlements in the area ever since and has used the region to carry out a number of military operations against the Syrian government.

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“This deal is one of the crimes and conspiracies formed against the Palestinian cause,” the top cleric said, adding that no government has a legal or religious authority to speak about this deal on behalf of the Palestinians.

The Bahraini cleric further called on the Palestinian people to exercise vigilance and resistance against the plan, which he said would only bring shame for its supporters.

The so-called “deal of the century,” drawn up by the administration of US President Donald Trump, is said to hugely favor Israel. Palestinians have already rejected the initiative as “the slap of the century.”

The US is set to unveil the “economic component” of the deal during a conference in Bahrain on June 25-26, a forum already boycotted by all Palestinian factions.

The US claims that during the forum, “Government, civil society and business leaders will share ideas, discuss strategies and galvanize support for potential investments and initiatives that could be made possible by a peace agreement.”

The announcement came as a surprise to Palestinian officials in Ramallah and Gaza. They said that they were not consulted about the conference and stressed that the only way to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was through a political, and not economic, solution.

Khalil al-Hayya, a senior member of the political bureau of Hamas, said on Friday that Palestinians have united to reject the so-called “deal of the century” plan, saying there is a consensus among them to restore the Palestinians’ rights.

Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah warned on Saturday that the upcoming Manama conference may pave the way for the resettlement of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and other countries.

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According to news reports, Jordan has opposed the plan so far, but the US and Saudi Arabia’s pressure on this country due to its economic problems may eventually lead to Jordan’s approval of ‘Deal of the Century’.

Based on media reports, the US, the EU and the Arab countries on the Persian Gulf have agreed to help the implementation of this agreement.

Earlier, based on a document which has been leaked from the Israeli regime’s Foreign Ministry; a Hebrew-language medium, revealed the details of ‘Deal of the Century’, according to which the Palestinian state will be formed without having an army and weapons.

Referring to ‘Deal of the Century’, Mustafa Yaghi, Member of the House of Representatives of Jordan said to Mehr News Agency that any actions and solutions which will not lead to the formation of the Palestinian state and end of Zionist’s occupation and return to “the line of June 4, 1967”, are not accepted by Palestinians and Jordanians.

Basically, the issue of the alternative land to form Palestinian state has been rejected by Jordanian and Palestinian leaders, and even Palestinians living in Jordan are opposed to this matter, he added.

He mentioned that the successive attempts by the US administration to publish some of the provisions of ‘Deal of the Century’ are only measures to evaluate the reactions to this deal.

Jordanian MP said that the efforts of Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and others to deceive the Palestinians by giving money to them will never succeed, adding, ‘Deal of the Century’ is nothing more than an agreement that will ultimately not lead to solve the Palestinian issue.

The fate of this plan will be similar to other initiatives such as the Arab Peace Initiative, etc., which have been faced with Palestinian opposition, Yaghi stressed.

He noted that Jordan will not also accept a deal over monitoring the holy sites of Islam and Christianity in Jerusalem.

Interview by Mohammad Fateminia

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A fresh flare-up of violence in the Gaza Strip caused by deadly Israeli airstrikes and retaliatory Palestinian rocket attacks has entered its third day, prompting the United Nations to raise alarm at the “dangerous escalation.”

Tensions erupted on Friday following the killing of four Palestinians, two in an Israeli air raid on southern Gaza and two during the regime’s live fire at anti-occupation protesters near a fence separating the blockaded coastal enclave from the occupied territories.

According to news reports, some 430 rockets have been fired from Gaza strip to Israeli regime’s positions in past two days in retaliation. The Israeli army says its warplanes have targeted some 180 sites in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli attacks have claimed the lives of a total of seven Palestinians, including Saba Mahmoud Abu Arar, a 14-month-old baby girl, and her 8-month pregnant mother.

In a statement released a few hours after the escalation of violence began, Mladenov said that the UN is “working with Egypt and all sides to calm the situation” and “called on all parties to “immediately de-escalate and return to the understandings of the past few months.”

“Those who seek to destroy them will bear responsibility for a conflict that will have grave consequences for all,” he stressed, referring to a fragile Egypt-brokered and UN-backed ceasefire recently agreed upon.

Mladenov added that “continuing down the current path of escalation will quickly undo what has been achieved and destroy the chances for long term solutions to the crisis. This endless cycle of violence must end, and efforts must accelerate to realize a political solution to the crisis in Gaza.”

He further stressed that “the current violence jeopardizes the significant progress made in recent weeks to relieve the suffering of people in Gaza, lift the closures, and support intra-Palestinian reconciliation.”

Against a backdrop of longstanding shortages of basic goods and services in Gaza linked to a more than decade-long air, sea and land blockade by the occupying regime, Palestinian protests began over a year ago in the Strip. In an ongoing cycle of violence, in over a year, close to 200 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 40 children and over 1300 have been injured.

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