Arab League and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas strongly condemned Tuesday Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu s stated intent to annex land from the occupied West Bank.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu had announced earlier Tuesday that he would annex the Jordan Valley, the northern Dead Sea and a number of Jewish settlements in the West Bank if he wins the upcoming Israeli elections.
President Abbas stressed that all agreements signed with Israel and their resulting obligations would end if the Israeli side annexes any part of "our occupied land".
He added: “We have the right to defend our rights and achieve our goals by all available means, regardless of the consequences, as Netanyahu s decisions contradict with United Nations resolutions and international law."
Arab foreign ministers, ending an emergency meeting at the Arab League in Cairo, deemed Netanyahu’s declaration as a new Israeli aggression in flagrant violation of international law, the UN Charter and resolutions of the United Nations, stressing that such statements undermine the foundations of the peace process.
In a statement, Arab ministers said they will follow up these new statements, noting that they would prepare to take all legal and political actions to deal with Israel s unilateral decisions which fuel conflict and violence in the region and the world.
The ministers held Israel responsible for the consequences Netanyahu s statements, expressing adherence to supporting the legitimate and inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including the right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the borders of 4 June 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The statement urged the international community, in particular the UN Security Council, to shoulder its responsibilities by confronting these Israeli violations of international law and UN resolutions.
Meanwhile, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi on Twitter called Netanyahu’s plan a "serious escalation".
Hanan Ashrawi, a senior official in the Palestine Liberation Organization, also wrote on Twitter that the Israeli leader was out to impose a "greater Israel on all of historical Palestine and (carry) out an ethnic cleansing agenda".
Around 65,000 Palestinians and 11,000 Israeli settlers live in the Jordan Valley and northern Dead Sea area, according to the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem.
The main Palestinian city is Jericho, with around 28 villages and smaller Bedouin communities.
