UN Human Rights Council adopts two Palestine resolutions
The UN’s Human Rights Council has adopted two resolutions presented by Palestine that reaffirm the illegality of Israel’s occupation and support the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.
One of the resolutions recognises that Israeli occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is against international law and must be ended. It also calls for divestment from and boycott of entities operating within illegal Israeli settlements and holding perpetrators of Israeli settler violence to account.
It was approved with 34 votes in favour, 10 countries abstaining, and three opposing.
The other resolution expressed its backing for the inalienable right of Palestinians to determine their fate, encompassing their right to establish an independent state and to live in freedom, justice, and dignity.
It was adopted after getting 43 votes in support, with two countries abstaining and two opposing.
US completes sale of 20,000 assault rifles to Israel despite settler concerns
The Trump administration has reportedly finalised the sale of more than 20,000 US-made assault rifles to Israel despite concerns they may end up in the hands of violent settlers in the occupied West Bank.
The Biden administration delayed the shipment, but his successor sent a notification to Congress on March 6 for the $24m sale, Reuters news agency reported.
The end user will be Israeli police, Washington has argued, with the government claiming it has taken into account “political, military, economic, human rights, and arms control considerations”. The rifle sale is a small transaction next to the billions of dollars worth of weapons the US supplies to Israel.
Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir oversees the Israeli police force. The Times of Israel newspaper reported in November 2023 his ministry put “a heavy emphasis on arming civilian security squads” in the aftermath of October 7 attacks.
Independent Palestinian state in West Bank ‘not possible’: Israeli FM
When Israel’s foreign minister was asked by the French daily Le Figaro if there are plans to annex the occupied West Bank, he described the area as “disputed territories, not occupied ones”.
“For us, these are disputed territories, not occupied ones. We have often been ready to negotiate. But that’s not possible with the current Palestinian Authority,” Gideon Saar told the outlet.
“We don’t want to lead them. But an independent Palestinian state today in Judea and Samaria [the West Bank] is not possible, because it would be led by Hamas and would endanger Israel’s security.”
