The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) welcomed the positions announced by the British Foreign Secretary regarding the crimes committed by settler militias in the West Bank. It also welcomed the positions of 12 Western countries concerning the imposition of a ban on the import of goods originating from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, which constitute one of the most prominent tools of the settlement project aimed at entrenching the occupation and imposing new realities on the ground.
The DFLP Department of Foreign Relations considered the British Foreign Secretary’s description of the crimes committed by Israeli settler militias in the West Bank against the Palestinian people as “terrorism” and “ethnic cleansing” to be an important step. However, it remains insufficient unless accompanied by practical and punitive measures that put an end to the policy of impunity and hold those responsible for these crimes, as well as those who oversee them, politically and legally accountable.
The Department stressed that the crimes and attacks perpetrated by settlers against the Palestinian people – including killings, assaults against civilians and their property, and the forcible expulsion of Palestinians from their lands – do not take place independently of the occupying state. Rather, they occur under the coordination, complicity, and protection of Israeli military, security, and political institutions. This requires broadening the scope of accountability to include all Israeli officials responsible, including ministers in the far – right government who provide political and security cover for these crimes and directly oversee the settlement system and settler violence.
While condemning the closure of the British Consulate in Jerusalem and the removal of British personnel from the coordination center for the Gaza Strip, the Department of Foreign Relations stressed that confronting settlement activity should not be limited to restricted economic measures, despite their importance. Rather, it must form part of a comprehensive international policy that compels Israel to respect international law and United Nations resolutions, puts an end to its occupation of Palestinian territories, and prevents the continuation of settlement activity, the confiscation of land, and the forced displacement of Palestinian citizens.The Department of Foreign Relations of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine called on all Western governments to abandon the policy of double standards in dealing with the Palestinian issue and to take serious and concrete measures to ensure Israel’s compliance with international law, including ending all forms of support that contribute to the continuation of the occupation and settlement enterprise. It stressed that justice for the Palestinian people can only be achieved through political, legal, and economic measures that support their right to self-determination and to establish an independent, sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, on all Palestinian territories occupied since the 1967 aggression, in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions and international law.
The Department of Foreign Relations concluded by stressing that halting settlement activity and holding settlers and those responsible for crimes against the Palestinian people accountable constitute a genuine test of the international community’s commitment to applying the principles of international law, ending the policy of impunity, and moving from verbal condemnation to binding political and legal measures that contribute to ending the occupation, achieving justice for the Palestinian people, and ensuring accountability for the occupation and its officials.