RAMALLAH, January 1, 2018 (WAFA) – The government condemned on Monday the approval by Likud party, Israel’s ruling party, of a draft resolution that calls on Likud leaders and Israeli lawmakers to agree on annexing Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Government’s spokesman Yousef al-Mahmoud described the resolution as “an outrageous violation of the resolutions of international legitimacy, especially the resolutions of the United Nations and the Security Council, as well as an irony and contempt for the entire UN system.”

“The Palestinian land that includes the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, foremost of which our eternal capital Jerusalem, is a land occupied by Israel along with other Arab territories, namely Sinai and the Golan, following the unfortunate aggression of 1967,” Mahmoud added.

He stressed that only international laws can apply to these occupied territories, “rather than laws imposed by [Israeli] military force and domination.”

Al-Mahmoud maintained that the recent Israeli escalation was a direct result of US President Donald Trump’s decision last month to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

M.N