Israeli Settlements Amount to Criminal Action

Iran’s envoy to the United Nations condemned Israel’s continued settlement operations in the occupied Palestinian lands as a “war crime” that violates an international treaty and several UN resolutions.

“The fast-growing illegal settlements in the Palestinian territory constitutes not only a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention but also a war crime that is another clear indication that the Israeli regime has never had any interest in peace,” Es’haq Al-e Habib told a United Nations Security Council meeting on “Situation in the Middle East, Including the Palestinian Question” on Thursday.

“Each time we meet here, there are new announcements on illegal settlements or annexation plans… The Israeli regime now works day and night to negate any right of Palestinian statehood and entrench the occupation,” he said, according to a transcript of his remarks carried by Tasnim News Agency.

The envoy described the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian lands as “the core” of all other conflicts in the Middle East.

“While the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian lands certainly is the main contributor to the instability of the Middle East, there are other contributors. Any foreign intervention, occupation and ensuing instabilities and attempts to engineer societies in the Middle East, proved to provide breeding grounds for terrorist and extremist groups to grow,” he noted.

  History of Aggression

Al-e Habib highlighted Israel’s history of aggression and lack of respect for international law.

“Israeli entire history starts with illegal occupation of the Palestinian land and is full of aggression against its neighbors and other countries in the Middle East, at least 14 times since 1948. This regime arrogantly and flagrantly continues to violate at least 86 resolutions, adopted by this council, starting from resolution 54 [1948] to resolution 2334 [2016] on illegal settlement activities. There are many more by the General Assembly, the HRC and UN Specialized agencies, all adopted in response to its illegal occupation, repeated acts of aggression as well as its well-documented atrocities, apartheid policies and war crimes against the Palestinian people.”

He also slammed the United States for using it veto power to provide Israel with impunity “to violate all council’s resolutions on the Middle East while shedding alligator tears for those resolutions it chooses to like.”

  Political Theater

“No political theater may hide Israeli policies of incremental aggressive and expansion and its behavior toward its neighbors as the main source of threat to the peace and security in this region,” Al-e Habib said.

In the latest show of Washington’s blatant support for the Israeli policy of occupation, US President Donald Trump announced last month that his administration recognizes Beit-ul-Moqaddas as the capital of Israel and would soon transfer its embassy there, a contentious decision that drew international condemnations, particularly from Muslim countries.

Trump’s announcement marked a shift in decades of American policy that has regarded the status of Quds as part of a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians, who want the eastern half of the holy city as their capital.