Egypt slams Israeli minister's call for sovereignty in West Bank
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Cairo: Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich recently called for the imposition of Israeli sovereignty and settlement development in the West Bank, which Egypt condemned "in the strongest terms," according to a statement from the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.
Egypt deemed Smotrich's remarks "a flagrant violation of international law, international humanitarian law, and all relevant Security Council resolutions, in addition to the Advisory Opinion issued by the International Court of Justice on the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories," according to the statement released on Tuesday.
The far-right Israeli Minister made the comments on Monday, expressing hope that Israel would extend sovereignty over the occupied West Bank by 2025 with the support of the incoming US administration under President-elect Donald Trump, Xinhua news agency reported.
Egypt stressed that such "irresponsible and extremist statements by a member of the Israeli government" clearly reflect Israel's stance of rejecting the path to peace.
Cairo also warned that such remarks fuel extremism and violence, emphasising the international community's responsibility to uphold the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.
According to the Egyptian statement, Smotrich's comments contradict the international community's stance, which calls for an end to the Israeli occupation and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state along the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
With inputs from IANS
