RAMALLAH, Wednesday, January 15, 2020 (WAFA) - The Palestinian Foreign Ministry today condemned in a statement remarks by Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett in which he announced the establishment of what he referred to as “nature reserve” settlements in the occupied West Bank and said that it will take this matter up with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.
“The Foreign Ministry condemns in the strongest terms Bennett’s colonialist and expansionist decisions and affirms that the so-called nature reserves are just another scheme for the appropriation and seizure of Palestinian land,” it said, adding that “this goes in the end for the benefit of shoring up settlements in the occupied West Bank.”
It said “it will approach the ICC to inform it of the legal dangers of Bennett’s declaration as part and parcel of the settlements file that will bring Bennett and others like him in front of the ICC.”
The ICC Prosecutor said recently that she will start an investigation into Israel’s settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories, which she said could be looked at war crimes.
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