Bahrain calls for international intervention to stop Israeli settlements

Bahrain condemned the Israeli government’s approval of hundreds of new settlement units in occupied Jerusalem, demanding an “immediate and decisive international intervention to stop the expansion of Israeli settlements”, Anadolu agency reported on Tuesday.

The remarks reportedly came in a statement by the Bahraini foreign minister, Khalid bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa, to the Bahrain News Agency on Tuesday

According to Anadolu, Al-Khalifa called on the international community to “take responsibility and stand firmly against Israel’s violations of various laws and international conventions, as well as its on-going attacks in the occupied Palestinian territories.”

He demanded for an “immediate and crucial international intervention to stop all forms of settlements, as they affect the rights of the Palestinian people”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ratified on Monday plans to build 1,060 new illegal settlement units in occupied Jerusalem.

According to Israeli public radio, the plans include the establishment of 660 units in the settlement of Ramat Shlomo, which is built on the occupied territory of the town of Shu’fat in northern East Jerusalem, and 400 units in the settlement of Har Homah, which is built on the occupied territory of Har Homa in southern East Jerusalem.

The Bahraini Foreign Minister said that this step “represents a continuation of a series of Israeli violations of international law, international resolutions and the Geneva Conventions,” adding that it is a clear and provocative act against the Palestinians.

Al-Khalifa also pointed out that Israel’s continued settlement activity is a “blatant challenge to all efforts for the resumption of the Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations”, as well as a “serious attack against international legitimacy, a deliberate and unjust war on the Palestinian people and their legitimate rights, and a serious policy that reflects Israel’s clear intentions to seize all the land of Palestine and change its parameters.”

In this regard, the Bahraini minister noted his country’s “strong and firm support for all the rights of the Palestinian people to establish an independent state based on the lines of 4 June 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, according to the Arab peace initiative, the two-state solution and the basis of international legitimacy and the relevant UN’s resolutions.”