If Israel annexes “even one centimeter” of the West Bank, it will be obligated to bear the responsibilities of an occupier over the civilian population, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas tells the Arab League’s Parliament on Wednesday.
“Such an illegitimate step will obligate Israel to bear the responsibilities in occupied land as an occupying power according to the Fourth Geneva Convention,” Abbas says.
The Geneva Conventions lay out the responsibilities of an occupying power and are often used as the legal basis for declaring Israeli settlement building illegal.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah on May 7, 2020. (Nasser Nasser/Pool/AFP)
Abbas’s statement corresponds to what other high-ranking PA officials have told journalists in recent weeks.
“Every day, I’ll be retreating from my responsibilities,” senior PA official Hussein al-Sheikh told The New York Times in early June. “I am telling the Israelis, if this situation continues, you will have to take full responsibility as an occupying power. It could go back to like it was before Oslo.”
— Aaron Boxerman
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, June 24, 2020
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
