RAMALLAH, February 6, 2017, (WAFA) – Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi strongly denounced the adoption of the so-called "Regularization Law" that legalizes Israel‘s annexation of privately owned Palestinian land on which illegal settlements and outposts were constructed in the occupied West Bank:

"Such a law signals the final annexation of the West Bank,” said Ashrawi in a statement. “Not only does it attempt to retroactively legalize the settlements and outposts built on Palestinian private property, it also gives clear license to the settlers to embark on a land grab in the occupied West Bank with impunity.”

Ashrawi said that with the "Regularization Law," “Israel is authorizing the unlawful act of land theft and its illegal settlement activities which are a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and an egregious violation of international law and conventions, including UNSC resolution 2334.”

“All settlements are illegal, whether on private property or on state land that belongs to the Palestinian collective as a whole,” she said. “This also proves beyond doubt that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his extremist, racist coalition government are deliberately breaking the law and destroying the very foundations of the two-state solution and the chances for peace and stability.”

The PLO official said: “It is imperative that the international community, including the United States and the European Union, assumes its moral, human and legal responsibilities and puts an end to Israel‘s lawlessness and its system of apartheid and ethnic cleansing; accountability should include punitive measures and sanctions before it is too late.

“Despite being a captive people under occupation, we will resist such expansionism and oppression, and we will continue to pursue all diplomatic and legal channels to oppose Israeli violations and defend our people‘s right to self-determination, justice and freedom."

M.K.