A Palestinian man looks towards the Israeli settlement of Shavei Shomron built next to the Palestinian village of Naqoura, west of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, November 23, 2020. /CFP
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye on Thursday called on the U.S. government to stop all violations and unilateral measures adopted by Israel against the Palestinians.
An official statement said Ishtaye made the remarks during a meeting with Hady Amr, the U.S. special representative for Palestinian affairs in the State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs.
The two sides discussed the unilateral practices taken by the new Israeli government, headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, against the Palestinian people as soon as it assumed power.
"The U.S. government is required to move urgently to put an end to the unilateral Israeli measures and threats that undermine the national authority and systematically end the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state," Ishtaye told Amr.
He pointed to a need for the upcoming visit of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan to the region to carry a message of hope for the Palestinian people.
"The two U.S. officials should deliver a clear statement to the Israeli government that it is obligated to respect international law and the agreements Israel signed with the Palestinians," Ishtaye said.
He urged the United States "to exert real pressure on the Israeli government to stop all violations and release the Palestinian tax revenue dues it had illegally deducted."
Ishtaye said the Palestinian people and their leadership "will not accept the fait accompli and will move forward in the popular, political, diplomatic and legal struggle in the face of the Israeli measures."
On Friday, the Israeli cabinet for security and political affairs approved punitive measures against the Palestinian Authority for its approach to the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
The punitive measures included the deduction of $39.6 million from the Palestinian tax revenue dues and the freezing of building permits in Area C, which is under full Israeli control in the West Bank.
The Palestinians want to establish an independent state on the territories seized by Israel in 1967, including the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital.