Palestine says Israeli settlements surge 25 pct since Trump's presidency

A senior Palestinian official said on Thursday that the number of Israeli settlements in the West Bank has surged by 25 percent annually since Donald Trump became U.S. president in 2017, official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

"The settlements' increase is part of Trump and (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu's annexation plans," said Saeb Erekat, secretary-general of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee, in a press statement published by WAFA.

"While they are violating international law, they deny the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people," he added.

Erekat, also Palestinian chief negotiator for three decades, called for the international community to "protect the possibility of making just and comprehensive peace based on the international law."

Last November, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that Washington no longer considers the Israeli settlements in the West Bank inconsistent with international law.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)