'Israel' claims it agrees to halt settlement activities for 4-6 months

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
20 Mar 2023 00:15

The Palestinian Authority and the Israeli occupation government agree on a set of provisions during a meeting in Sharm El-Sheikh.

A general view of an illegal Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank, Oct. 28, 2021 (AFP)

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that the Israeli occupation and the Palestinian Authority (PA) agreed during a security meeting in Egypt's Sharm El-Sheikh to establish a mechanism to "curb violence" and counter "inflammatory statements and actions."

Sharm El-Sheikh hosted a five-sided meeting between the PA, the Israeli occupation, Egypt, Jordan, and the United States aimed at "de-escalation" in the region.

On Twitter, Ahmed Abu Zeid, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson posted a joint communique by the Israeli occupation government and the PA that read that the two sides "reaffirmed their joint readiness and commitment to immediately work to end unilateral measures for a period of 3-6 months," including an Israeli "commitment to stop discussion of any new settlement units for 4 months and to stop authorization of any outposts for 6 months."

البيان الختامى لاجتماع شرم الشيخ الخماسي اليوم pic.twitter.com/YVLjqm2NM8
— Egypt MFA Spokesperson (@MfaEgypt) March 19, 2023

It is noteworthy that the same provision was included in the concluding statement of the Aqaba meeting that was held by Jordan a couple of weeks ago. However, Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later confirmed that "the construction of settlement outposts in the West Bank will continue without any change."

And on February 15, the Israeli occupation cabinet approved the construction of more than 7,000 illegal settler units in the occupied West Bank, with the Palestinian Information Center revealing the exact number of the planned units at 7,032.

Under international law, all Israeli settlements are illegal, and the United Nations Security Council has condemned Israeli settlement activities in the occupied territories in several resolutions.

According to the Sharm El-Sheikh meeting statement, the two sides reaffirmed their "commitment to all previous agreements between them, in particular, the legal right of the Palestinian National Authority to carry out the security responsibilities in Area (A) of the West Bank."

The Israeli occupation and the PA also agreed to "establish a mechanism to take the necessary steps towards improving the economic conditions of the Palestinian people, per previous agreements, and to significantly enhance the fiscal situation of the Palestinian National Authority."

"They also reiterated the commitment of upholding unchanged the historic status quo at the Holy Sites" in occupied Al-Quds, both in word and in practice, the communique read.

As the Sharm El-Sheikh meeting was convening, Israeli media reported that an illegal Israeli settler was seriously wounded while another was slightly injured after an Israeli car was targeted with gunshots in Huwara, south of Nablus, the same town far-right minister Bezalel Smotrich called to wipe out.