RABAT, August 5. /TASS/. Palestine condemns a recent statement by Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Mike Johnson that his country recognizes Israel’s historic right to sovereignty over the West Bank, Palestinian Presidential Spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said.
"Johnson’s statements made in the presence of the US ambassador to Tel Aviv run counter to all possible international resolutions and international law, in particular UN Security Council resolution 2334, which was approved by the international community, including the United States, and which condemns any activities geared towards building colonial settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, as illegal," the WAFA news agency quoted him as saying.
According to the Palestinian presidential spokesman, Johnson’s remarks are "erroneous and contradictory to the Oslo Accords, which were signed in Washington and which reiterate that the political process is based on international laws providing for the establishment of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with a capital in East Jerusalem."
He slammed the US House speaker’s statements as a "challenge and provocation to the world community" who gathered in late July for an international high-level conference on Palestine in New York.
On July 23, Israel’s Knesset (parliament) passed a declaration calling on the government to extend the country’s sovereignty over the West Bank. Although the document is not binding, ten Arab and Muslim countries - Bahrain, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Qatar, Nigeria, the United Arab Emirates, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey - condemned it as a blatant violation of international laws and UN Security Council resolutions. The Russian foreign ministry also criticized the declaration, insisting that it should never be implemented.