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Israeli bill to legalise settlements must be rejected, insists Arab League

December 20, 2016 at 11:35 am

Ahmed Aboul-Gheit , Secretary General of the Arab League, 2 September 2016 [Anadolu Agency]

The Secretary General of the Arab League reiterated on Monday that the Israeli bill to grant retrospective legal status to illegal Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories must be rejected, Felesteen newspaper has reported. Ahmed Aboul-Gheit made his comments during a meeting in Cairo with the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov.

“The UN envoy presented the latest communications he had conducted regarding the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories and chances to resume the peace process,” said an Arab League press statement, “as well as the Israeli plan to ratify the new settlement bill.”

Aboul-Gheit pointed out that Israel’s settlements remain illegal according to international laws, resolutions and conventions regardless of any laws that the Israelis introduce. “We have to work together with the international community to reject Israel’s attempts to legalise settlements.”

The Israeli parliament is preparing to vote on the second and third reading of the bill in question.