Erekat: Liberman’s settlement announcement shows he thinks ‘he’s above laws of man’

Senior Palestinian Authority official Saeb Erekat says Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman’s announcement that Israel will approve thousands of settlement homes next week shows that Israel thinks it is “above the laws of man.”

In a video statement, Erekat says the upcoming settlement approvals are Israel’s response to international calls that the Jewish state be probed for its handling of the deadly Gaza protests.

“This is a flagrant violation and an eye opener to the judicial council of the ICC that an official judicial investigation must be opened immediately,” the PA official says.

“This cannot go on. Israel cannot continue business as usual with this impunity and immunity that they think they have.”

Earlier Thursday, Liberman announced that Israel would be advancing 3,900 settlement homes through various planning stages with 2,500 of them slated to gain final approval for construction.

However, the numbers appeared to have been inflated as many of the project included in the latter group were already counted among those that Liberman said had gained “final approval” at the January meeting of the Civil Administration’s High Planning Subcommittee.

Dr. Erekat on Lieberman's announcement to push the immediate construction of 2,500 illegal settlement units: The message of Lieberman is that Israel is above the laws of man, above the Security Council, above the International Criminal Court, above the Human Rights Council. pic.twitter.com/TnZIBG04go

— Palestine PLO-NAD (@nadplo) May 24, 2018