Palestinian premier Mohammed Shtayyeh has said that a planned visit next week by the US secretary of state to an illegal Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank would set a “dangerous precedent”.
Mike Pompeo would become the first US secretary of state to visit one of the settlements, which are considered illegal by most of the international community.
The visit planned for next week is a way to “legitimize the settlements” and creates “a dangerous precedent that violates international law”, Shtayyeh said on Friday, quoted by the Palestinian local news agencies.
The trip aims to highlight US President Donald Trump administration’s policy shifts on Israel, Axios reported.
Pompeo’s visit to Israel comes exactly one year after he said the US did not consider Jewish settlements on occupied Palestinian territory to be illegal, putting Washington at odds with the United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Pompeo is expected to visit the occupied West Bank winery of Psagot, which has rolled out a label named after him in tribute to his visit, Israeli media reported.
The illegal Israeli settlement of Psagot on the eastern outskirts of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank [Ahmad Gharabli/AFP]The winery has unsuccessfully challenged a European decision to put a label on all products that come from illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Pompeo’s trip comes two months before the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, a past critic of illegal settlements.
Maher Mezher, a member of the Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine Central Committee, told Anadolu Agency that Pompeo’s visit aims to legalize Israel’s illegal settlement policies and show US administration’s support to Israel.
Source: Al Jazeera