Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Riyad Al-Maliki sent letters to a number of his counterparts to mobilize their countries against Israel’s prospective more to annex parts of the West Bank.
Al-Malki sent letters to his counterparts, including of the EU countries and member states of the Security Council, to mobilize them against Israel’s illegal plan to apply Israeli sovereignty over, or in other words to annex, the Jordan Valley and the illegal colonial settlements in the occupied West Bank.
He sounded the alarm about the consolidation of the Israeli settler-colonialism in Palestine with ensuing infringement upon the Palestinian people’s inalienable rights, especially their right to self-determination and independence, and impact on regional and international peace and security.
The foreign minister added that Israel’s prospective annexation serves as a fatal blow to the international law-based system, and that it will undermine the prospects for a two-state solution on the pre-1967 borders, and pave the way for the implementation of apartheid.
He stressed that it was not sufficient for states worldwide to issue statements of condemnation, but they must fulfill their legal and political responsibilities in terms of ensuring international peace and security, including taking measures to uphold the United Nations Charter and international law, implement UN resolutions to deter Israel from proceeding with its illegal annexation, and impose an extensive array of sanctions on Israel to achieve effective deterrence.
The top diplomat emphasized that international actors have the opportunity to take concrete and proactive measures to stop the Israeli annexation plan and salvage the two-state solution based on the rules of international law, the unanimously-adopted peace process terms of reference, the Madrid principles, the Arab peace initiative, and United Nations resolutions.
He recommended that the deterrent steps to be taken include the immediate recognition of the State of Palestine.