CAIRO, Nov 19 (KUNA) -- The Cairo-based Arab League condemned on Tuesday US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's remarks on the US administration's renunciation of its stance towards Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Arab League Secretary General Ahmad Abul Gheit said in a statement that the US administration's attitude towards Israeli settlements was a negative development.
This unfortunate change in the US position would enable masses of Israeli settlers to commit more violence and brutality against the Palestinians, he warned.
Abul Gheit said that this change undermines any possibility of peace based on ending the occupation in the near future through US' efforts.
He underlined that international law is formulated by the international community and not a single state, stressing that Israelis occupying Palestinian territory has received worldwide condemnation.
From a moral point of view, Aboul Gheit shamed those who practiced settlement or supported it.
He is concerned about the disregard for a stable legal principle enshrined in international law and international humanitarian law - in particular the Fourth Geneva Convention - which prohibits Israel, regardless of its motive, from forcibly transferring its population to the territory under its occupation.
He completely deducts US' credibility as a global power, which is supposed to respect the law and work to implement it.
Yesterday, Pompeo said that US administration was changing the approach of previous US administrations on the issue of Israeli settlements.
"After carefully studying all sides of the legal debate," Pompeo said, the US "believes the establishment of Israeli civilian settlements in the West Bank is not per se inconsistent with international law." (end) ms.lr