Worthy Christian News > Israel-Palestinian Conflict > Palestinian Authority Calls on UN to Demand Removal of 500,000 Jewish Settlers From Judea and Samaria

Palestinian Authority Calls on UN to Demand Removal of 500,000 Jewish Settlers From Judea and Samaria

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – The Palestinian Authority, which has limited government over parts of the Judea and Samaria also known as the West Bank, has submitted a draft resolution to the UN General Assembly requesting that Israel be forced to comply with recent International Court of Justice decisions by withdrawing some 500,000 Jewish Israeli citizens from settlements built on West Bank land that the PA wants for a Palestinian state, the Times of Israel (TOI) reports. The draft resolution is expected to be voted at the annual UN General Assembly which opens in New York on September 10.

The PA’s resolution calls for Israel to withdraw from West Bank territories within six months, TOI reports. It further calls for an end to the Jewish settlement project, enforced sanctions on senior Israeli officials, and the banning of weapons sales to Israel if they might be used in Palestinian areas, TOI reports.

The resolution further seeks “the return of Palestinians to their land.” There are currently around five million Palestinians living in “refugee camps” in surrounding Arab countries, who claim they have the right to return to their lands in Israel. The vast majority of this Palestinian group are descendants of the 750,000 Arabs who were displaced during the Arab-Israeli war of 1948 that was launched against the Jewish state by six Arab nations immediately following Israel’s declaration of independence.

The PA resolution is based on a non-binding ruling issued by the UN’s International Court of Justice in July, TOI reports. The ICJ ruled that Israeli settlements in the West Bank represent a violation of international law. Accordingly, the court ruled that Israel must relinquish control of those areas and stop all new settlement activity. Moreover, the court said UN member states should ensure that any hindrance “to the exercise of the Palestinian people of its right to self-determination is brought to an end.”

Outraged, Foreign Minister Katz said Israel would “break and dissolve” the Palestinian Authority if proceeded with such actions. “If the Palestinian Authority acts against Israel in complete contradiction to the commitments it undertook in the interim arrangements that were signed, Israel will act in the same way and stop all cooperation with the PA and bring about its dissolution,” Katz said in a statement.