Jordan praises UN resolution against Israeli settlements as 'historic'
Jordan has hailed as “historic” a United Nations Security Council resolution demanding a halt to Israel’s construction of settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Jordan's Information Minister Mohammad al-Momani said Saturday that the resolution, which demands that Israel stop its settlement activities in the territories it occupied in 1967, reaffirmed the right of the Palestinians to live in their homeland.
“This historic decision expresses the consensus of the international community on the illegality of Israeli settlements and reaffirms the Palestinian people's historic right (to live) in [East] Jerusalem [al-Quds] and its historic lands,” said Momani.
UNSC Resolution 2334 was passed with 14 votes in favor and one abstention -- by the US -- on Friday. It condemned the establishment of settlements by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories a “flagrant violation under international law,” which it said was “dangerously imperiling the viability” of peace and the establishment of a Palestinian state.
More than half a million Israelis live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the West Bank including East Jerusalem al-Quds. The international community regards the settlements as illegal as they are built on private Palestinian lands. Israel has defied international calls for a halt to its settlement activities.
Momani added that the UN vote could pave the way for the so-called two-state solution, noting that the issue of settlements was a major impediment in this regard.
Jordan, a major proponent of the so-called two state solution, is among the few Arab countries to have diplomatic ties with Israel.
Palestinians want the West Bank as part of their future independent state, with East Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital.
They have also been protesting Israeli plans to change the status quo of Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem al-Quds. Since October 2015, nearly 270 Palestinians have been killed in violent clashes that erupted after Israel intensified its raids against Palestinian protesters.
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