Ramallah/PNN/

D.Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the spokesperson for President Mahmoud Abbas, warned today of the Supreme Israeli Court’s decision to okay the demolition of more than 12 Palestinian villages in Masafer Yatta and the ensuing exile of more than 4,000 Palestinian citizens, saying these evictions amount to ethnic cleansing.

Abu Rudeineh also condemned Israel’s expropriation of 22,000 dunums of land in the villages of Sawahrah Al-Sharqiya and Al-Nabi Musa, south of Jericho as part of the E1 settlement plan which is aimed at isolating the occupied city of Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank.

The presidential spokesperson also warned of the consequences of the Israeli occupation’s possible approval of the construction of thousands of settlement housing units in the occupied Palestinian territories.

“The Israeli decision regarding the villages of Masafer Yatta, which affects thousands of Palestinian citizens, including 500 children, amounts to forced displacement and ethnic cleansing, in violation of international law and relevant UN Security Council resolutions,” said Abu Rudeineh.

He added, “These moves are dangerous, condemned, and rejected. All of these Israeli measures of demolition, eviction, and settlement fall within the framework of the apartheid regime that the occupation applies to the Palestinians and their lands amid international silence. This will have serious consequences on the ground, whose consequences are the responsibility of the Israeli government.”

Abu Rudeineh said these Israeli measures “come at a time when many regional and international parties are making strenuous efforts to prevent escalation and ease tensions on the ground as a result of the continuous Israeli aggression against our people and our Islamic and Christian holy sites in East Jerusalem, the capital of the State of Palestine.”

He added, “We call on the international community, to assume its responsibilities, and turn the silent condemnation of settlements into action by putting pressure on the Israeli government to stop its unilateral measures of settlements, killing, attempts to change the status quo in the Haram al-Sharif, and incursions into Palestinian cities and villages.”

The presidential spokesman urged the US administration “to assume its responsibilities to stop this Israeli recklessness that fuels escalation and tensions and thus more violence. It is time to turn the commitments of President Biden's administration into reality on the ground because the current situation imposed by provocative Israeli decisions and measures can never be allowed to continue.”

“Jerusalem and its sanctities and the occupied Palestinian territories, in general, should not be the scene of internal Israeli political conflicts and disputes,” said Abu Rudeineh. “The Palestinian people and its leadership know very well how to confront and overthrow such Israeli measures and defend their sanctities and their land.”