Israel establishes new Golan Heights settlement honoring Trump: official

Source: Xinhua| 2019-06-14 01:07:09|Editor: mingmei
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JERUSALEM, June 13 (Xinhua) -- Israel said Thursday a new settlement in the annexed Golan Heights will be named after U.S. President Donald Trump for his recognition of Israel's sovereignty over the originally-Syrian territory.

The Prime Minister's Office said in a statement that a special cabinet session will be held in the Golan Heights on Sunday to officially approve the establishment of the new community. A cornerstone laying ceremony will follow the meeting.

"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene a festive cabinet meeting on the Golan Heights in honor of President Trump's recognition of Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights," the PM's Office said.

A spokesperson for the Golan Regional Council said the name of the new settlement is Ramat Trump, or "Trump Heights," in Hebrew.

Departing from the long-held U.S. foreign policy, Trump signed in March a declaration recognizing the Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights.

Israel seized the Golan from Syria during the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in 1981, in a move that had never been recognized by any world power until Trump's recent statement.

The U.S. president recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in December 2017, another controversial move defying the international standing on the issue. Israel captured East Jerusalem, a predominantly Palestinian area, in the 1967 war.

The move triggered a wave of violence between Israel and the Palestinians.

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