RAMALLAH, July 4, 2017 (WAFA) – The Palestinian government approved Tuesday the formation of the National Team for the Demarcation of Palestine’s Maritime Border, according to a cabinet statement.

It said that the team will get in touch with neighboring states to establish the maritime border for the State of Palestine.

Palestine became a member in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in 2015, which gave it right to have control over its resources within its maritime border.

The cabinet called on all countries, institutions and companies “not to work, directly or indirectly, within the maritime border of the State of Palestine, including the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the State of Palestine, without coordination and obtaining the necessary legal approval from the relevant Palestinian institutions.”

It warned that any such action would be a violation of the rights of the Palestinian people and their sovereignty over their resources as well as a violation of international law and the relevant United Nations resolutions, including Security Council resolution 2334 (2016), which stressed the need for states to distinguish in their activities between Israel, the occupying power, and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which also applies to the EEZ in the Mediterranean Sea and its natural resources.

An EEZ is a concept adopted at the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (1982) whereby a coastal State assumes jurisdiction over the exploration and exploitation of marine resources within 200 miles from its shore.

M.K.