RAMALLAH, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- Palestine said on Tuesday the United States has aligned itself with Israel and disqualified itself from the peace process, after U.S. State Secretary Mike Pompeo's remarks on the legality of Israeli settlements.
Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), told reporters in his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah that Palestine considers the announcement null and void and will take action against the U.S. announcement at the United Nations and international tribunals.
"The U.S. has disqualified itself from any role in the peace process, they will not sit on any table Palestinians sit on in any negotiations," Erekat said.
"They are changing the rules of the game from negotiations to dictations. They want to dictate Jerusalem as Israel's capital, no refugees, no settlements and if this Palestinian leadership doesn't comply and come to its knees, then they will continue pressuring and pressuring," he said.
Erekat explained that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has issued directives to counter this announcement internationally through several steps, including calling for an urgent meeting for the Arab foreign ministers, going to the UN Security Council, the UN Human Rights Council as well as the International Criminal Court over the settlements issue, and the International Court of Justice over the legality of such an announcement.
Pompeo said on Monday night that the United States considers "the establishment of Israeli civilian settlements in the West Bank is not, per se, inconsistent with international law," and that the U.S. was not weighing in on the legality of any individual settlement, leaving that to Israeli courts.
He also said that this should not be read as a statement on the final status of the West Bank, which is "for the Israelis and the Palestinians to negotiate."
Meanwhile, an Palestinian legal expert said this comes in line with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to allow applicability of Israeli law on West bank settlements.
During the final days of his electoral campaign in September, Netanyahu promised to annex the West Bank's Jordan Valley and impose sovereignty over Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Against this backdrop, Palestinian legal expert Issam Aruri told Xinhua that this declaration means that the Americans "are moving to be partners with the occupation."
"It will give Israel a green light to move from de facto annexation to de jour annexation of large areas of the West Bank. We expect an acceleration of house demolitions, which is taking more levels than ever," Aruri said.
"This will be a new era for the Palestinians and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict," the Palestinian expert said.
Israeli settlement activity is deemed illegal by most world powers and under international law. It is considered one of the issues that hindered the peace talks between Palestinians and Israelis, which collapsed in 2014.
