US House Speaker claims West Bank “rightful property of Jewish People”

US House Speaker Mike Johnson visited on Monday the illegal settlement of Ariel, built in the occupied West Bank, marking the first visit of its kind by a US official in this position.

During the visit, Johnson said “Judea and Samaria” was the “rightful property of the Jewish people”, using the Israeli term for the occupied West Bank, Israel’s Channel 7 reported. 

According to the channel, the high-level US delegation led by Johnson made the visit with the aim of “strengthening strategic relations between the two countries and deepening knowledge of the Judea and Samaria region”.

During the visit, Johnson, along with 15 other members of Congress, participated in a tree-planting event in the settlement.

The Hebrew channel claimed that the visit affirms US “support for Israel’s right to sovereignty over its lands”.

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Ariel Mayor Yair Chetboun described the visit as “historic” and embodies the shared values, deep friendship, and strong partnership between the United States and Israel.

In response, the Palestinian foreign ministry condemned Johnson’s visit and described it as a “blatant violation of international law and international legitimacy resolutions, and an encouragement of settlement crimes and the confiscation of Palestinian lands”.

The ministry considered Johnson’s statements “provocative” and a “clear contradiction of the declared U.S. position on settlements and settler attacks,”. 

The ministry stressed that “all settlements are invalid and illegal and undermine the chances of implementing the two-state solution and achieving peace”.

Under international law, all territories occupied by Israel in 1967 including the West Bank and Syria’s Golan Heights and all settlements built there are considered illegal. 

READ: Palestine decries US House speaker’s visit to illegal Israeli settlement in occupied West Bank