PA: Escalation of settlers’ violence is a result of Pompeo’s announcement

On Friday, the Palestinian Authority (PA) condemned the escalation of Israeli settlers’ violence against Palestinian citizens and blamed the US for this escalation, Al-Watan Voice reported.

In a statement, the PA’s Foreign Ministry announced that the escalation against Palestinians “is part of an expansionist colonial project which is being carried out by the Israeli settlers and backed by the Israeli occupation.”

According to the statement, the latest escalation was the aggression carried out by the settlers in the villages of Fadel, Qublan, Barqa, Kafr Al-Deek and others across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The ministry attributed “full responsibility” for the aggression of the Israeli settlers to the Israeli government, which has not taken any punitive measures to deter the settlers, nor has it protected the Palestinians.

Meanwhile, the ministry blamed the US for the escalation of the Israeli settlers’ attacks, which increased after the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, announced that illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land are no longer inconsistent with international law.

The statement called for the UN secretary general, António Guterres, to accelerate the activation of the international protection system, before it is too late.

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