The Gulf Cooperation Council in a letter to Washington’s prime diplomat Sunday condemned the Israeli finance minister’s controversial feedback on the existence of Palestinians.
The GCC, in a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, referred to as on Washington “to assume its responsibilities in responding to all measures and statements that target the Palestinian people.”
The letter from the six-member GCC’s overseas ministers additionally referred to as on the United States “to play its role in reaching a just, comprehensive and lasting solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian battle.
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, talking earlier this month, mentioned that the Palestinians didn’t exist as a individuals, feedback that sparked outrage amongst Arab nations.
The U.S. State Department mentioned they’d discovered Smotrich’s feedback “to not only be inaccurate but also deeply concerning and dangerous.”
Smotrich is a part of veteran Israeli chief Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-right authorities that took workplace in December.
The GCC ministers additionally denounced earlier remarks by Smotrich, calling for the Palestinian city of Huwara within the West Bank to be “wiped out” after two Israelis have been shot lifeless there by an alleged Hamas militant in February, remarks he later walked again.
The GCC, whose overseas ministers met in Riyadh final week, contains the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain, which normalized relations with Israel beneath the U.S.-crafted 2020 Abraham Accords, in addition to Saudi Arabia, which has not.
Violence has intensified within the West Bank in current months, which Israel has occupied for the reason that Six-Day War of 1967.
On Tuesday, the State Department criticized a transfer by Israel’s parliament to annul a part of a regulation banning Israelis from dwelling in areas of the West Bank evacuated in 2005, calling it “provocative” and in direct contradiction of guarantees made to Washington on the time.
Blinken, showing earlier than a Senate committee, additionally reiterated earlier U.S. pushback on Smotrich’s feedback about Palestinians, saying they don’t mirror U.S. values.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
