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Arab ministers reject US decision on Israeli settlements
CAIRO, Nov 25, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Arab foreign ministers on Monday said they
“reject” the US decision that it no longer considers Israeli settlements on
the occupied West Bank illegal.
A statement issued after an emergency meeting at the Cairo headquarters of
the Arab League said the US decision “has no legal effect and is a clear
violation of UN resolutions”.
Arab foreign minister expressed their “condemnation and rejection of the US
decision”, the statement said.
It came a week after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the
United States no longer considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank and
Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem illegal.
On November 18, Pompeo said that after legal consultation Washington had
concluded the establishment of settlements was “not, per se, inconsistent
with international law”.
That policy shift came nearly two years after President Donald Trump
overturned decades of US policy by recognising the contested holy city of
Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, sparking Palestinian and Arab anger.
After Pompeo’s announcement the Arab League said the US shift was “an
extremely adverse development”.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 2341 hrs