RAMALLAH, Monday, December 20, 2021 (WAFA) – Premier Mohammad Shtayyeh today called for international intervention to halt Israeli settler terrorism against Palestinian civilian population in the occupied territories.

Speaking at the opening of the weekly cabinet session at his office in Ramallah, Shtayyeh stated that the cabinet sent letters to the United Nations and international human rights organizations, urging them to intervene to stop the acts of organized terrorism committed by Israeli settlers, protected by soldiers, particularly in the Nablus-district villages of Burqa, Qaryout and Sebastia, and ensure protection for the Palestinian civil population.

He held Israel fully responsible for this escalation and condemned Israel’s widespread and systematic shoot-to-kill policy targeting Palestinian civilians.

Israel has released new rules of engagement which allow soldiers to open fire at Palestinians who throw stones, even if they are fleeing.

Prime Minister Shtayyeh also commented on the recent senior-level U.S.-Palestinian economic dialogue, which was virtually held on December 14.

He stated that the government concluded the first such economic dialogue in five years, during which it reaffirmed that the only way to resolve the conflict with Israel lies through a political settlement while pointing that the such a settlement should be based on the United Nations resolutions and the underlying international law.

He reiterated the need for the US administration to safeguard the two-state solution, which is being systematically undermined through Israel’s settler-colonialism.

K.F.