Abu Rudeineh explained that these statements contradict international decisions and law, particularly UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which was approved by all countries of the world, including the United States. This resolution considers settlements illegal in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, according to the Palestinian News and Information Agency (WAFA).
Abu Rudeineh described these statements as a challenge and provocation to the international community, which convened in New York to support the law. He emphasized that this solution paved the way for a series of international recognitions of the State of Palestine during the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly scheduled for September.
Johnson made an unprecedented visit to the Ariel settlement in the occupied West Bank on Monday, a visit condemned by the Palestinian presidency as a violation of international law. Johnson became the first American official holding this position to make such a visit.
The visit was part of a special program organized by the “American-Israel Education Association,” a conservative pro-Israel group led by Heather Johnston, according to an American news site. The American-Israeli Republican activist Marc Zell quoted saying that “the area rightfully belongs to the Jewish people,” describing Johnson as “the highest-ranking American official to visit West Bank settlements.”
The West Bank is central, stretching approximately 100 kilometers in length and 50 kilometers in width, and has been under Israeli control since the 1967 war. Most countries consider this area occupied land, and the settlements there illegal under international law, as confirmed by the International Court of Justice, the highest judicial body of the United Nations, in a ruling issued in July 2024.
