Saudi FM: Israeli Plan to Annex Occupied Palestinian Territory Blatant Challenge to International Law

Saudi FM: Israeli Plan to Annex Occupied Palestinian Territory Blatant Challenge to International Law

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan condemned on Wednesday Israel’s plan to annex parts of the West Bank in an emergency meeting for the foreign ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

Prince Faisal also called on the international community to take a strict stance against the Israeli violations, emphasizing the necessity of condemning the plan.

Israel intends to annex its West Bank settlements and the Jordan Valley, as outlined in a US peace plan which has been widely criticized and rejected by the Palestinians.

Prince Faisal said the plan was “a dangerous escalation that threatens the chances of resuming the peace process to achieve security and stability in the region.”

He added that the Kingdom condemns and rejects Netanyahu’s plans and is committed to “peace as a strategic option.”

“We call for the Arab-Israeli conflict to be resolved in accordance with the relevant international resolutions, international law, and the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002,” Prince Faisal said.

He added that the annexation plan is a “blatant challenge to international norms, laws, treaties, conventions and resolutions, and does not take into consideration the rights of the Palestinian people.”

In the meeting, Palestinian Foreign Minister Reyad al-Maliki said that the Israeli settlements aim to change the demographics. “We will not back off from the Arab Peace Initiative,” he added.

The Secretary-General of the OIC Yousef al-Othaimeen also rejected the Israeli occupation’s policies, saying that they violate international law and relevant UN resolutions.

Othaimeen also said that the OIC supports the Palestinian leadership’s decisions in confronting the illegal Israeli move. “Any illegal change to the Palestinian lands threatens the two-state solution,” he said.

The OIC fully supports the Palestinian people’s right of establishing “a sovereign state based on the 1967 borders with eastern Jerusalem as its capital.”

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