Palestinians welcome Human Rights Watch report on Israeli crimes

(MENAFN - Jordan News Agency) Ramallah, Apr 27 (Petra) �� Palestinians Tuesday welcomed an international rights watchdog report critical of Israel for pursuing policies of apartheid and persecution against Palestinians and against its own Arab minority, which amount to crimes against humanity.In its report, Human Rights Watch (HRW) cited Israeli restrictions on Palestinian movement and seizure of Palestinian-owned land for Jewish settlement in territory occupied in the 1967 Middle East war as examples of policies, which it said amounted to crimes of apartheid and persecution."Across Israel and the Palestinian territories, Israeli authorities have pursued an intent to maintain domination over Palestinians by exercising control over land and demographics for the benefit of Jewish Israelis," the New York-based HRW pointed out.Palestinian presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rdeineh said the report is "a strong international testimony of the struggle and suffering of the Palestinian people under Israeli military occupation and its colonialist and repressive policies.""This thorough and well-documented report corroborates that Israel has committed crimes of apartheid and persecution, which warrants the international community assume its immediate responsibility towards Palestine and hold Israel to account for its multiple crimes against our Palestinian people," he demanded.The report coincides with escalating Israeli violations against the Palestinian people, especially in occupied East Jerusalem, the capital of the State of Palestine, and against Israel's own Palestinian citizens, Rdeineh pointed out.He called on all international parties to examine the report and remind states of their legal obligations under international law, stressing the need for intervention by the international community to curb the violations of Israel, the occupying power, and ensure that these countries, world organizations and companies are not involved in any way in the war crimes and crimes against humanity in Palestine.SS 27/04/2021 14:54:47 MENAFN27042021000117011021ID1101990124