Amnesty Calls on Arab Leaders to Press for an International Force in Palestine

Tuesday March 27, 2007 22:16 by Rami Almeghari - IMEMC & Agencies

Amnesty International has called on the Arab leaders, ahead of their  summit meeting in Saudi Arabia due Wednesday, to lobby for the deployment of an international monitoring force throughout the occupied Palestinian territories.

An Amnesty statement confirmed that the due Arab summit should push forward the establishment of a United Nations-formed force in the occupied territories.

The statement maintained that this force should be authorized to abide all parties concerned with the respect of international humanitarian laws and take the necessary measures against those who violate these laws.

The proposed force’s mandate would also include verifying each party’s rights and obligations in accordance with the international law, the statement made clear. Such a monitoring mechanism would also guarantee free of movement of the Palestinian population, removal of the Israeli separation barrier in the West Bank, halting all Israeli excessive measures against the Palestinians, evacuating all illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and finding a just and durable solution for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Amnesty International regularly voices concern over the Israeli violations of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, such as the separation barrier in the West Bank and expansion of settlements that have so far swallowed vast areas of Palestinian-owned lands. Israel still preserves a grip on the West Bank and East Jerusalem through military control, while it strictly controls Gaza’s crossing points, sea and airspace.

On Wednesday, Arab leaders are due to hold a summit meeting in Saudi Arabia, where they are expected to reaffirm the 2002 peace proposal which calls for a complete Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Arab territories, in return for normal relations between Israel and the 23 Arab states.

The Gaza Strip, West Bank and East Jerusalem are occupied Palestinian territories which Israel has been controlling since the Israeli-Arab war of June 1967, according to the United Nations Security Council’s resolutions 338 and 242.

international | palestinian politics | news report rami at imemc dot org