27 Mar 2023; MEMO: The UAE strongly condemned on Sunday Israel's decision to allow Jewish settlers to go back to illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank from which they had been removed under the 2005 "disengagement law". Amendments to the law have been passed by the Israeli parliament, the Knesset.
Plans to build new settlement housing units were also condemned in a statement by the UAE ministry of foreign affairs and international cooperation. The ministry said that the UAE rejects practices that violate the resolutions of international legitimacy and threaten to exacerbate instability in the region. It stressed the need to support all regional and international efforts to advance the peace process in the Middle East.
The ministry also stressed the need to put an end to illegal practices that threaten the two-state solution and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Contrary to its commitment at the recent Sharm Al-Sheikh summit, the Israeli government has published tenders for a total of 1,029 settlement units in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, Israeli group Peace Now revealed on Friday.
Between 600,000 and 750,000 Israeli Jewish settlers live in at least 250 settlements and outposts built by the Israeli government and settlers across the occupied Palestinian West Bank and East Jerusalem. All of Israel's settlements and the settlers who live in them are regarded as illegal under international law.
