GCC condemns Israeli settlement construction plans

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
12 Jun 2023 11:30
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The Gulf Cooperation Council meet in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, announcing in a statement their condemnation of Israeli settlement building on Occupied Palestinian territories.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with GCC Foreign Ministers at the GCC Secretariat in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, June 7, 2023. (AP)

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Foreign Ministers, during their 156th meeting on Sunday, at the General Secretariat of the GCC in Riyadh, strongly condemned the Israeli Occupation's plan to construct new settlements in occupied Palestinian territories.

The ministers urged the international community to take action and bring the occupation's settlement-building policies to an end.

Moreover, the GCC statement noted that the council condemned "Israel's continued construction of housing units in the occupied Palestinian territories," reaffirming their refusal "to annex any settlements to Israel or impose Israeli sovereignty over them, in clear violation of international resolutions, including UN Security Council Resolution No. 2334."

During the 1948 Palestinian #Nakba, the Israeli Givati Brigade depopulated Zarnuqa on May 27 and 28.
Years later, after "Israel" launched its brutal aggression on the #Gaza Strip, #Palestinian resistance shelled the "Rehovot" settlement, which was built on the ruins of Zarnuqa,… pic.twitter.com/UJS772GPMg
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) May 13, 2023

The GCC also reaffirmed that their position grounded in their support for the sovereignty of the Palestinian people across all of the 1967-occupied Palestinian territories and called for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East al-Quds as its capital.

Israeli settlers attack Palestinian homes in Jalud, south of Nablus

To better understand settlements, one incident that took place less than 15 days ago might serve to explain life with them for Palestinians. On May 31st, illegal Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian property in the Palestinian village of Jalud, south of Nablus, which led to confrontations with Palestinians in the area.

مواجهات عنيفة في بلدة جالود خلال التصدي لهجوم المستوطنين على البلدة. pic.twitter.com/bUYlakD2B8
— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) May 30, 2023

Ghassan Daghlas, the Palestinian official in charge of the settlement file in the northern occupied West Bank, confirmed that settlers, under the protection of Israeli occupation forces, attacked homes in the eastern region of Jalud, prompting confrontations with the town's residents.

In the same context, state-run Palestinian news agency WAFA cited witnesses as saying that illegal Israeli settlers attacked vehicles and homes in the Khirbet Emreha neighborhood in the town of Yabad with stones and blocked the main road that connects the Jenin and Tulkarm governorates.