Human RightsPalestine

PLO details 1000s of Israeli violations in 2013

343248_Israeli-forcesThe Israeli regime has perpetrated over 20,000 cases of violations against Palestinians in 2013, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) says, Press TV reports.

PLO issued a press release on Wednesday, saying the Israeli troops killed 56 Palestinians, arrested or detained 4,533 others, and erected 5,214 flying checkpoints throughout the occupied West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem).

PLO also said there was a dramatic rise in the frequency of violations compared to previous years. Paradoxically, the violations escalated during the period of so-called peace talks between the two sides.

“During the previous year, the Israelis pushed for more settlement units with (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu as the leader. They also gave priority for the expansion of settlements in East al-Quds and the West Bank alongside housing demolitions. The crimes are rapidly escalating,” said Saleh Ra’fat, a member of the executive committee of the PLO.

The fresh round of negotiations began in July 2013 to end the decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict based on the so-called two-state solution after a three-year hiatus.

Palestinians are seeking to create an independent state on the territories of the West Bank, East al-Quds (Jerusalem), and the besieged Gaza Strip and are demanding that Israel withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territories.

Tel Aviv, however, has refused to return to the 1967 borders and is unwilling to discuss the issue of al-Quds. Even days before the start of the talks Israel announced plans for more than 2,000 new settler units in East al-Quds and the West Bank, which angered Palestinians.

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