The Sultanate of Oman has voiced its condemnation of the Israeli Knesset’s approval of a draft bill calling for the imposition of Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank in Palestine.
This move, Oman affirmed, represents yet another defiance of international law, the resolutions of the international community, and a deliberate undermining of Middle East peace efforts, the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and the two-state solution.
In a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry, Oman reiterates its vehement rejection of Israel’s continued enforcement of policies of blockade and starvation, as well as its obstruction of food, medicine and humanitarian aid to the population in the Gaza Strip and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories.
It holds Israel and its supporters fully responsible for the legal, humanitarian and political consequences of these practices, which violate the international humanitarian law.
More than 70 Israeli lawmakers passed a motion on Wednesday urging the government to impose sovereignty over the West Bank, though the symbolic move does not affect the Palestinian territory’s legal status.
The non-binding vote in Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, was backed by members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition, as well as some opposition lawmakers.
“Sovereignty in Judea and Samaria” — the name Israel uses for the West Bank, which it has occupied since 1967 — was “an integral part of the realisation of Zionism and the national vision of the Jewish people”, the text stated.
It passed by a vote of 71 to 13, with 36 other lawmakers absent.
Some 500,000 Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank, which is home to around three million Palestinians.
Israeli settlement there is regularly condemned by the UN and is considered illegal under international law.
Meanwhile, more than 100 international humanitarian organisations have called on governments around the world to immediately open all land crossings into Gaza, restore full access to food, clean water, medical supplies, shelter materials and fuel, and to support a UN-led humanitarian mechanism, alongside an immediate and lasting ceasefire.
In a joint statement, humanitarian organisations said that aid workers are now standing in food lines, risking gunfire, just to feed their families, while the Israeli occupation government’s blockade continues to starve Gaza’s population. — Agencies
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
