Seeking to prevent Israel from annexing the large settlement blocs in Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley as early as this summer, the Palestinians have turned to the UN Security Council, demanding it stops the Jewish state from moving ahead with its plans.
Palestinian envoy to the UN Riyad Mansour said the Palestinians were seeking a "wide and powerful front in the UN to prevent Israel from annexing parts of the West Bank" and will bring the matter before the Security Council at its next meeting, set for May 20.
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Mansour said the Palestinians sent letters to the UN Security Council and General Assembly regarding Israel's "illegal plans concerning settlements and annexation."
According to the Palestinian WAFA news agency, earlier this week, the so-called "Arab Troika" in the UN – a rotating group of three Persian Gulf state that takes up Palestinian issues at the international body – met with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and warned him about the repercussions of the Israeli plan.
Currently led by Oman, the Arab delegation "deplored Israel's cynical exploitation of this period of global pandemic to advance these illegal plans, and underscored the international community's broad rejection and demands for a halt to these illegal actions," the report said.
The Arab delegation stressed that Israel's actions "are severely violating the Palestinian people's rights and destroying the viability of the two-State solution."
The delegation further called on the international community "to bring a halt to these illegal policies and practices, reiterating the Arab Minister's call for diplomatic, political and legal action, in line with international law."
Guterres reportedly reiterated that settlements and annexation are illegal and that a unilateral move of this kind would effectively end the two-State solution and close the door to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, as well as have "serious consequences for the prospects for peace and security in the region."
