UAE Press: World should question Israel on land-grabbing

ABU DHABI, (Pakistan Point News - 28th Dec, 2018) A UAE newspaper has said that at a time when the world attention is focused on other major issues, Israel is back to illegal activities, advancing plans for nearly 2,200 settlement homes in the occupied West Bank, the first such approvals since snap polls were called earlier this week.

"The international community has repeatedly warned Israel against such land-grabbing, but the occupation forces just would not care," said The Gulf Today in an editorial on Friday.

The paper continued, "A defence ministry committee with responsibility for such projects approved the plans, which are in various stages of the approval process, as per Peace Now NGO.

On the ground, there’s no end to Israeli brutality. At least 238 Palestinians have been killed since recent protests began at the border, mostly by Israeli fire during clashes but also by air and tank strikes. The silence of the international community on those merciless killings is deafening.

It may be recalled that two years ago, the Israeli human rights group B’tselem said it would no longer work with the Israeli military in investigating alleged violations, ending a 25-year relationship. It made it clear that only a tiny percentage of complaints of improper violence against Palestinians has resulted in indictments and accused the military justice system of whitewashing violations.

The world community should take a more serious note of the persistent Israeli violations and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Palestine.

The United Nations has a responsibility to take necessary steps that ensure decent living standards for the Palestinians and lead to ending the occupation of Palestinian territories since 1976. The two-State solution is the only best way forward.

"Israeli settlements are illegal under international law and major roadblocks to peace," added the Sharjah-based daily.