Jordan slams Israel illegal settlement expansion

The Jordanian envoy, Walid Obeidat, said Sunday that the peace treaty between the two sides would be threatened if Tel Aviv continued to build settlements on occupied Palestinian lands.

“All such acts are incompatible with international law and international humanitarian law and if allowed to continue will ultimately imperil the treaty,” said Obeidat.

In addition, the Jordanian ambassador said Amman opposed an attempt by far-right Israelis to change the status quo of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, saying Jordan is against any alterations to the mosque, which is Islam’s third holiest site.

Obeidat made the remarks while addressing an event marking the 20th anniversary of the peace treaty. The deal signed in 1994 made Jordan Israel’s second ally in the Arab world after Egypt, which had inked a treaty in 1979.

Tel Aviv faces widespread global condemnation of its land grab policies, which have been among the major reasons behind the failure of US-led talks between Israelis and Palestinians.

More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 illegal settlements built since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank including East al-Quds (Jerusalem).

The United Nations and most countries regard the Israeli settlements as illegal because the territories were captured by Israel in the 1967 war and are hence subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbid construction on occupied lands.

Source: PressTV