Fatah slams Likud resolution that calls for annexation of Israeli settlements
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party has voted for a resolution which calls for the formal annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank.
On Sunday, the non-binding vote called on Likud members of parliament to spread Israel's authority throughout the West Bank and to annex Israeli settlements.
"The Likud Central Committee calls on Likud’s elected leaders to work to allow unhindered construction and to extend Israeli law and sovereignty in all areas of Judea and Samaria (the West Bank),” read the resolution.
It also called for unlimited construction of the settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Despite being non-binding, the resolution can be used to exert significant political pressure.
The Palestinian Fatah Movement has censured the vote, stating that it is a clear violation of UN resolutions.
"The decision of the Likud party to impose Israeli control over the occupied West Bank represents an end to the remnants of the peace process unilaterally," said a statement released by the group.
A few days ago, the Israeli cabinet approved $11 million in funding for settlement activities in the occupied West Bank.
Much of the international community regards the Israeli settlements as illegal because the territories were captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War and are hence subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbid construction on occupied lands.
Last month, the European Union urged the Israeli regime to stop plans for the construction of new settler units in the occupied West Bank, warning that such moves undermine peace efforts.
The last round of talks between Israelis and Palestinians collapsed in 2014. Tel Aviv’s settlement activities and its refusal to release senior Palestinian prisoners were among major reasons behind the failure of the negotiations.
More than half a million Israelis live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds.
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