RAMALLAH, Wednesday, January 30, 2019 (WAFA) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to expel the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH) is intended to cover up on crimes committed by armed settlers against a civilian population, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi said on Wednesday.
Netanyahu decided not to extend TIPH’s mandate, claiming the international civilian observer force that has operated in the occupied southern West Bank city of Hebron for more than 20 years is working against Israel’s interest.
Ashrawi said in a statement that Netanyahu’s decision came only a few days after armed Israeli settlers killed Hamdi Na’asan and wounded at least 30 Palestinian civilians during their raid on the al-Mughayyir village, east of the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah:
"Prime Minister Netanyahu and his right-wing and racist coalition government are expelling the witnesses to the very crimes committed by their extremist and armed settler population in order to shield them from any accountability for their lawlessness and egregious violations,” said Ashrawi.
TIPH was established following the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre in which American-born settler Baruch Goldstein entered the Mosque in Hebron on February 25, 1994 during the holy month of Ramadan and killed 29 Palestinian men and boys and injured dozens more. On March 18, 1994, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 904 that called for ‘measures to be taken to guarantee the safety and protection of the Palestinian civilians throughout the occupied territory, including, inter alia, a temporary international or foreign presence.‘
“Instead of fulfilling its obligations as outlined in international law, previously signed agreements and terms of reference, Israel continues to entrench the colonial military occupation in the service of its violent settlers who enjoy immunity for their criminal actions time after time,” she said. “Neither Israel nor its settlers should be granted license to commit terror and murder.”
The PLO official appealed to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and all UN Member States to guarantee that the TIPH remains in Hebron to fulfill its important mandate. “It is high time that the international community fulfills its duty to ensure protection for the vulnerable and accountability for Israel once and for all," Ashrawi concluded her statement.
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