The US administration’s recent destructive and irresponsible moves threaten to plunge the entire region into chaos, violence and instability, Hanan Ashrawi, member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) said on Wednesday.
Ashrawi also lashed out at Israel saying it is incumbent upon the international community to curb Israeli lawlessness and end its occupation of Palestine. The PLO official made these remarks during meetings with Japanese parliamentarians and diplomats who visited her at her Ramallah office.
The discussion focused on the latest political developments and Israel’s systematic violations of international law and conventions, including the escalation of its illegal settlement activities in and around occupied Jerusalem, its plans to destroy the Palestinian Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar, the extra-judicial executions of Palestinians, the illegal siege of Gaza, and collective punishment measures, according to a press release by Ashrawi’s office.
In that context, Ashrawi stressed: ‘Such egregious violations require serious and effective multilateral international action. ‘We call on the Japanese government to support our efforts in that regard. ‘We also urge Japan to play a proactive political role in order to ensure an end to the occupation and to establish the independent and sovereign state of Palestine on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.’
The meeting also reviewed the US administration’s fateful alliance with Israel which provides it with blanket support for its illegal and immoral behaviour and war crimes against the Palestinian people, said the press release. In that regard, Ashrawi said: ‘The US administration’s recent destructive and irresponsible moves threaten to plunge the entire region into chaos, violence and instability.’ Both parties also reviewed the positive relations between Palestine and Japan and discussed ways to create even greater understanding and cooperation between the two peoples and countries.
In a separate meeting, Ashrawi met with the head of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) James Heenan. Ashrawi briefed him on the continued deterioration of the human rights situation throughout occupied Palestine as a result of Israel’s persistent violations and war crimes.
The meeting addressed the deliberate targeting of the Human Rights Council and other international organisations by the US administration and Israel. Both parties also discussed current Palestinian political developments, as well as the seven relevant multilateral treaties and conventions that the State of Palestine acceded to in 2014, three of which Palestine has presented treaty reports on in the Human Rights Council.
In this context, Ashrawi affirmed: ‘It is imperative that Palestinian legislation is consistent with our obligations under international treaties and conventions.
‘The State of Palestine is working to implement its international responsibilities to promote and protect human rights. ‘The universal values of human rights and justice have been and continue to be the main focus of the struggle of the Palestinian people to achieve their inalienable rights, foremost of which is their right to self-determination.’
Elsewhere, an Israeli settlement guard on Wednesday set fire to Palestinian-owned agricultural land planted with olive trees in the town of al-Lubban al-Sharqiya to the south of Nablus, in the northern West Bank. The village mayor Samer Awais said a security guard from the settlement of Eli, built illegally on Palestinian land, set ablaze four dunums of agricultural land located at the entrance of the town and adjacent to the Ramallah-Nablus road, burning dozens of olive trees. The town residents and with the help of fire crews were able to put out the fire, he said.
Also on Wednesday, hundreds of Jewish extremists held provocative tours of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem under heavy Israeli police protection and some of them performed religious rituals against standing rules. The fanatics publicly performed rituals in the area of Bab al-Rahmeh (Golden Gate) inside the walled Muslim compound without any attempt by the police to stop them from violating visiting rules.
Non-Muslim visitors of the holy compound are not allowed to perform any religious rituals.
Fanatics who believe that Al-Aqsa Mosque is the location of the Jewish temples have intensified their presence and provocations in the Muslim holy compound during the current Jewish holiday, prompting Palestinian officials to warn of dire consequences if the status quo at the Mosque as a Muslim-only holy place is changed.
Meanwhile, several Palestinians were hurt on Wednesday after Israeli soldiers fired tear gas at homes during an army raid of the village of Rommaneh, west of Jenin in the northern West Bank. Israeli soldiers raided the town at dawn and fired tear gas canisters at Palestinian homes, causing several suffocation cases.
Some people were transferred to hospital for medical treatment. Israeli soldiers also stormed the village of Zabboba to the west of Jenin for the third consecutive day, deployed troops in the streets and alleys and placed flying checkpoints at its entrances, while deploying forces on rooftops of two residences and turning them into military outposts.
Forces reportedly raided and wreaked havoc into dozens of homes in the area and interrogated their residents. Israeli forces on Wednesday detained 10 Palestinians, including a writer, from across the West Bank districts and Jerusalem, according to the Palestinian Prisoners society (PPS).
The PPS said in a statement that Israeli forces raided the home of Esra Ghneimat, a 34-year-old writer, in the town of Surif, northwest of Hebron, and detained her. It noted that the Israeli army recently detained six other women from Hebron, including writers and journalists.
Forces also detained two Palestinians aged 33 and 36 from the Tulkarem area, in addition to three others from Ramallah governorate. Two more Palestinian youths aged 20 and 21 were detained in Qalqilia district and two others were detained by Israeli police in Jerusalem.
Israeli forces on Wednesday sealed off all roads leading to the archeological site in the town of Sebastia, to the north of the city of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, to make it possible for extremist settlers to reach the site and hold Jewish religious rituals, according to Mohammad Azzam, mayor of Sebastia. He said that Israeli forces raided the town and sealed off the vicinity of the site, preventing residents from moving or shops to open as settlers got ready to enter the Palestinian town.
Azzam noted that clashes erupted between Palestinian youths and Israeli forces after raiding the town and homes near the archaeological site. Israeli military vehicles and bulldozers entered into agricultural Palestinian lands east of the Jabaliya town in the northern besieged Gaza Strip, on Wednesday morning, razing and levelling lands along the ‘buffer zone.’
Witnesses said that four Israeli military bulldozers entered 50 metres into Gaza from a military post along the Israeli-imposed security fence and razed lands as Israeli drones flew over head. Israeli military incursions inside the besieged Gaza Strip and near the ‘buffer zone,’ which lies on both land and sea sides of Gaza, have long been a near-daily occurrence.
The Israeli army also regularly detains and opens fire on unarmed Palestinian fishermen, shepherds and farmers along the border areas if they approach the buffer zone, as the authorities have not made clear the precise area of the designated zone. The practice has in effect destroyed much of the agricultural and fishing sector of the blockaded coastal enclave, which has been under an Israeli air, land, and sea blockade for nearly 12 years.
