Saudi Arabia, others condemn Israeli settler violence in West Bank

Saudi Arabia and several other Arab and Muslim countries on Thursday denounced the latest acts of violence by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.

In a joint statement with Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Indonesia, Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey, the Saudi foreign ministry condemned the “continued and escalating” settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, explicitly naming the recent attacks on the Grand Mosque in the village of Jiljilya and the al-Farouq Mosque in the village of Mazar’a al-Nubani.

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“They stress that these attacks constitute a clear violation of the sanctity of places of worship and religious sites, international law, including international humanitarian law, and relevant United Nations’s resolutions,” the statement read.

It called Israel’s measures in the West Bank “illegal,” saying they would fuel “instability, violence and extremism and undermine international efforts to establish peace,” stressing that the parties issuing the statement hold Israel fully responsible.

In addition to condemning the acts, the statement called on the international community to uphold its “legal and moral responsibilities” and compel Israel to end its “dangerous escalation” in the West Bank, “end its illegal practices, halt settler violence,” hold perpetrators of these acts responsible and ensure that they would not “enjoy impunity.”

Moreover, it reiterated the solidarity with the Palestinian people and support their right to a sovereign state within the line of 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The West Bank has recently seen an uprising of violence by Israeli settlers against the local Palestinian population, the expansion of existing settlements and construction of new outposts. It is inhabited by about 500 thousand Jewish settlers amid around three million Palestinians.

The settlements were built following Israel’s victory over its neighbors in the Six-Day War and the occupation of the West Bank. They are internationally condemned as illegal and a direct violation of international law.

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