RAMALLAH, Tuesday, November 19, 2019 (WAFA) – Foreign Minister Riyad Malki condemned today the US recognition of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories describing it as "lawless."

"The State of Palestine condemns in the strongest terms the US administration‘s lawless position on Israel‘s illegal settlements in occupied territory of the State of Palestine, as announced by the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. This position violates international law, decades-long international consensus over the issue and determinations of the International Court of Justice, the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions and United Nations resolutions, including Security Council resolutions," Malki said in a statement.

"The current US Administration has adopted an anti-Palestinian agenda and endeavored to empower and legitimize the Israeli colonial settler agenda. This ideologically driven and irresponsible policy, including this most recent announcement by Secretary Pompeo, proves beyond any doubt that the current US administration has aligned itself with Israel‘s illegal colonial enterprise and thus fails to meet the most basic requirements to play any role in any future solution."

The Foreign Minister added: "This administration cannot and will not rewrite international law. However, the Trump administration‘s disregard to the Palestinian people‘s inalienable rights is symptomatic of its disregard and contempt to the rules-based international system and multilateralism, whose effects go beyond the Question of Palestine. Allowing this agenda to prevail would ensure the demise of the international order and cause irreversible damage to the achievements of humanity over the past seven decades and threatens to plunge the world into chaos and violence.

"The State of Palestine will not stop pursuing justice and redress for the Palestinian people. The Palestinian leadership will continue to take all measures possible to honor its moral and political responsibility towards our people, and defend their national rights including their natural right to a life of dignity, freedom and prosperity."

Malki called on the international community "to respond firmly to such destructive behavior by supporting Palestine‘s efforts at the international level to protect the two-state solution by recognizing the State of Palestine on the 1967 borders, insisting on full respect for international law and adherence to the United Nations Charter, ensuring that any political track must aim to end the Israeli occupation, and defending the internationally agreed-on framework for peace. Only positive actions that reestablish credibility to international law and respect for the need for justice as a prerequisite of peace can achieve that."

M.K.