RAMALLAH, January 19, 2017 (WAFA) – The Palestinian Authority warned on Thursday that if Israel goes ahead with plans to annex the settlement of Ma’ale Adumim, built on occupied West Bank land to the east of Jerusalem, it will lead to drastic consequences.
“Any Israeli decision regarding annexing the settlement of Ma’ale Adumim will be looked at as dangerous escalation and will not be accepted,” said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for President Mahmoud Abbas.
Israeli right-wing Minister of Education Naftali Bennet has introduced a bill to the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, calling for the annexation of Ma’ale Adumim.
Bennet decided to introduce the bill on Sunday, the day after Donald Trump, the elected US president, takes office. Trump and his team have expressed support for the illegal Israeli settlements and for moving the US embassy to Jerusalem.
“This step will end any connection to any peace process, particularly if it is accompanied by moving the US embassy to Jerusalem,” said Abu Rudeineh. “This measure will lead to a new phase that cannot be controlled.”
The presidential spokesman added: “We again warn against any step that violates United Nations resolutions, particularly the recent Security Council resolution which considered settlements illegitimate in all the territories occupied in 1967, including East Jerusalem.”
He said that if “if Israel crosses this red line, then all red lines will be ruptured,” emphasizing that there will be “no peace and no stability without the creation of an independent (Palestinian) state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.”
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