Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat says a draft resolution condemning Israel’s West Bank settlement activity is ready to be presented to the UN Security Council (UNSC).
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat says a draft resolution condemning Israel's West Bank settlement activity is ready to be presented to the UN Security Council (UNSC). Erekat said on Wednesday that he expects the resolution to be put forth at the UNSC in February after the US ends its presidency of the council. He hoped the United States would not use its veto to defeat the resolution and added that if it did not succeed at the Security Council, “we will go to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).” Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas had requested the UNSC in November to find a solution to freeze the expanding illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian lands despite an international call to Israel to stop construction. Fifteen nations have helped draft the proposal, Erekat said. Israel proceeds adamantly with the construction of the settlements on the occupied Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem) it occupied in 1967 and later annexed it in a move not recognized by the international community.Erekat: Draft Resolution on Settlements Ready
