Following the ramming by a car driven by an Israeli settler into a Palestinian family on a road in the north of the West Bank over the weekend killing two brothers, Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh today called on the United Nations teams in Palestine to monitor the situation on the ground in the occupied territories in light of a rise in the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces or settlers.
“In view of the shedding of Palestinian blood, the extrajudicial executions on the roads, and the escalation of terrorism by the occupation soldiers and settlers, the latest of which was the deliberate car-ramming attack against the two brothers, Mohammad and Muhannad Mtair, we call on the United Nations teams stationed in Palestine to deploy monitors on the roads and in the areas targeted by settlers,” Shtayyeh said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting held in Ramallah.
“The UN has more than 400 vehicles and more than 1,000 staff that can be trained as UN monitors to observe and document the actions of the army and settlers for the purpose of prosecution,” he said.
The Prime Minister also condemned Israel’s deportation of Palestinian-French human rights defender Salah Hammouri after revoking his right to live in his hometown of Jerusalem.
“We condemn the deportation of the Jerusalem citizen Salah Hammouri to France, after the occupation authorities arrested him administratively, withdrew his Jerusalem residency papers, and deprived him of his natural right to reside in his hometown,” he said.
“The case of the detainee Hammouri summarizes a number of continuous (Israeli) violations against Jerusalem residents with the aim of emptying the city of its indigenous population through a series of laws and racist policies targeting the Palestinian presence in the holy city,” said Shtayyeh.
He also condemned statements by Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu in which he said he will not give the Palestinians more than self-rule and that security will remain in the hands of Israel.
“The statements made by Benjamin Netanyahu affect the right of our people to establish their independent state,” said Shtayyeh. “This right was achieved after great sacrifices and was endorsed by international laws, and it will not be dropped by a statement or a decision from any Israeli official. Our people will not cease their legitimate struggle before they win their legitimate rights and establish their independent state on the June 4, 1967, lines with Jerusalem as its capital.”
Source: Palestine News & Info Agency