Foreign Minister Riyad Malki conferring with Michelle Bachelet, High Commissioner for Human Rights, in Geneva. (WAFA Images) 

GENEVA, Wednesday, February 26, 2020 (WAFA) – In a meeting with the High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet in Geneva today, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Riyad Malki called on her to update the database of the companies operating in the illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories because their number exceeds what has been reported.

Malki thanked Bachelet for issuing the report that contains the database of companies working with settlements as called for by Human Rights Council, which, he said, restores confidence in the international system and gives partial justice for the Palestinians, which can be built on.

He considered releasing the data base as a direct response to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo‘s declaration that settlements are not inconsistent with international law, stressing that this confirms that settlements and everything connected to them are illegal under international law.

Malki invited Bachelet to visit Palestine and see for herself the human rights conditions in it, pointing to the systematic and continuous Israeli violations and measures against the Palestinian people particularly after US President Donald Trump’s so-called “deal of the century” came as a green light to Israel to commit more crimes.

Bachelet said that she is monitoring human rights around the world and that she will not accept the policy of double standards for any country, including Palestine.

She indicated that she implemented her mandate in publishing the list of companies operating in Israeli settlements because international law is clear about their illegality, just as annexation is illegal and prohibited in international law.

K.T./M.K.