Slovenia Condemns Israeli Plan to Annex West Bank
Palestinians at an Israeli checkpoint in Hebron in the West Bank, 2024. X/ @MiddleEastEye
November 13, 2024 Hour: 7:26 am
China also urged Israel to lift the restrictions on humanitarian access in Gaza.
On Tuesday, Slovenia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry has condemned Israel’s annexation plans in the West Bank, warning that they “threaten both regional stability and the viability of a two-state solution.”
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Previously, on Monday, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for the imposition of Israeli sovereignty and settlement expansion in the West Bank.
“We condemn Minister Smotrich’s push toward annexation plans in the West Bank. Such unilateral steps disregard international law and also endanger peace efforts and should be avoided at all costs,” Slovenia’s Foreign Ministry said.
Slovenia is the incumbent member of the United Nations Security Council and officially recognized the State of Palestine in June.
On Tuesday, Fu Cong, China’s permanent representative to the United Nations, urged Israel to lift the restrictions on humanitarian access in Gaza and stop using humanitarian assistance as a bargaining chip, as the already dire humanitarian situation there is rapidly deteriorating.
Addressing the UN Security Council briefing on the food security issue in Gaza, he said that humanitarian issues cannot be politicized, nor can hunger be weaponized.
“This is the fundamental bottom line of international humanitarian law. However, during the conflict in Gaza, which has been ongoing for 13 months, civilians have been repeatedly deprived of their basic needs, and all humanitarian bottom lines have been breached time and again,” Fu pointed out, adding that the biggest challenge in scaling up humanitarian assistance “does not lie in the shortage of humanitarian supplies, but lies in the man-made restrictions on humanitarian access.”
teleSUR/ JF Source: Xinhua
