The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), warned on Saturday against a recently-leaked understanding between the USA and Israel over some Israeli plans for the possible annexation of Palestinian lands, for the purpose of illegal colonial settlements on the occupied Palestinian territories.
In a statement, issued by the Department for the Defense of Lands of the PLO, said that the Israeli government is currently exploiting world countries’ engagement in fighting the Coronavirus by considering some annexation plans that would confiscate more Palestinian-owned lands, for illegal settlement purposes.
The statement referred to a report by the said department, in which the PLO noted that both the Israeli Likud party of Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu and the rival party, White and Blue, of Benny Gantz, have recently come to terms on enforcing Israeli supremacy on large areas of Palestinian-owned lands, by this summer.
The agreement between the two parties, according to the PLO’s report, will include annexation of the Jordan Valley area of Alghour, north of the Dead Sea, with United States being involved in working out related Israeli annexation plans.
The PLO’s statement denounced Washington’s involvement in what it described as Israeli colonial settlement plans in contravention of international law and many United Nations resolutions pertaining to the occupation of Palestine.
The report revealed that Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has pledged, in a phone call, to the chief of Israeli colonial settlements council, David Elhiani, that Israel will wrestle full control over the Jordan Valley’s Alghour area, in a few months time.
With respect to US involvement in such colonial plans, the report explained that a US delegation, headed by US ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, has held a series of meetings with Israeli tourism minister, Brev Livin, over the plans.
Such recent meetings, the report suggested, have focused on ways to make the plans go along with the January-declared deal of the century, announced by US president, Donald Trump. The deal suggests allowing Israel to annex West Bank lands, including a road in the south of West Bank city of Nablus, known as the Hawara bypass road.
The PLO also maintained that currently, Israel is going ahead with some other colonial settlement projects such as the E1 project, which aims at connecting the internationally-recognized occupied East Jerusalem and the Ma’ale Adumim colonial settlement in East Jerusalem, itself. Such a project would separate the southern West Bank from northern West Bank.
PLO’s report also noted that over the past couple of years, Israel has completed construction of 15,000 new housing units in Israeli settlements, erected on Palestinian lands, along with some 10,000 additional units under construction in other colonial Israeli settlements.
The Palestine Liberation Organization is the internationally-recognized, sole representative for the Palestinian people, inside the occupied Palestinian territories and the Diaspora.
Since it signed the Oslo Peace Accords in 1993, recognizing Israel’s right to exist, the PLO has led peace negotiations with Israel.
Over the past couple of years, PLO’s ties with Washington has been severed after the US shut down PLO’s representative office in the Washington, given PLO’s rejection of Trump’s recognition of East Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and cutting off annual financial aid to the Palestinian Authority, which is an organ of PLO.
Earlier this year, Trump, along with Israeli Premier, Netanyahu, announced Washington’s vision for peace, known as the deal of the century. The deal was rejected by the United Nations, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the Arab States League and other key international players.
Palestinians themselves unanimously and vehemently opposed the plan, for they believe it lacks the provision of even the most basic Palestinian national rights, while granting full Israeli supremacy over the West Bank, which it occupied in 1967.
