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High Court says Israel can take advantage of West Bank resources

Politics

3362399490The High Court of Justice has authorized Israel to exploit the West Bank's natural resources for its own economic needs by rejecting a petition against the operation of Israeli-owned quarries in the territory.

In its ruling, issued on Monday, the court adopted the state's position: that no new Israeli-owned quarries should be established in the West Bank, but existing ones should be allowed to continue operating.

The petition was filed two years ago by the Yesh Din organization. It argued that the 10 Israeli-owned quarries in the West Bank violate international law, which states that an occupier may not exploit an occupied territory's natural resources for its own economic benefit; it may use such resources only for the benefit of the occupied people or for military purposes.

The Israeli quarries sell 94 percent of their yield to Israel and supply almost 25 percent of Israel's total consumption of the raw materials in question. But until the petition was filed, the state had never seen any problem with this.

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Netanyahu Office Condemns Palestinians for Efforts at PLO Unity

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Reports that Hamas and several other factions are planning to join a "reformed" Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) as an attempt to build some sense of international unity have sparked angry condemnations today from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office.

Netanyahu spokesman Mark Regev warned that Hamas could never be allowed into a Palestinian organization because it "is to its very core a genocidal terrorist organization."

Regev went on to warn that allowing Hamas into the PLO meant President Mahmoud Abbas was "walking away from peace." It should be mentioned, of course, that Israel's current government has not had any peace talks with the Palestinians in over a year.

Reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas sets the stage for a potential election of a unity government for the Palestinian Authority as well, something Israel has also condemned. Interestingly enough, officials have in the past cited the split as proof that the Palestinians are too divided for independence, but Israel has ruled out negotiating with their unity government.

Source: antiwar.com

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UN General Assembly Passes Nine Resolutions On Israel-Palestine

Politics

460_0___10000000_0_0_0_0_0_un_gen_assemblyOn Friday, the United Nations General Assembly passed nine resolutions related to Palestine as part of a set of 24 resolutions and two texts related to human rights and decolonization.

The resolutions were passed by the General Assembly after the recommendation of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee. Several of the resolutions were passed almost unanimously, with only Israel voting against them.

Among these were a resolution that called for an accelerated return of displaced persons who became refugees in 1967, and called on donor countries to assist the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) in meeting the needs of the Palestinian refugees. This resolution was passed by a vote of 160 in favor to 1 opposed (Israel), with 9 abstentions.

Another resolution urged Israel to reimburse UNRWA for all transit charges incurred and other financial losses sustained as a result of delays and restrictions on movement and access, and to cease obstructing the movement and access of the staff, vehicles and supplies of the Agency. That resolution passed with a vote of 163 in favour to 7 against (Israel, Canada, Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, United States), with 2 abstentions (Cameroon, Vanuatu).

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