CMEP Bulletin: U.N. Special Coordinator Sounds The Alarm
Security Council Briefing on the Situation in the Middle East, Special Coordinator Nickolay Mladenov [United Nations Department of Political Affairs]
For years we have been managing this conflict, while the occupation has continued, Palestinians have been dispossessed, and a one-state reality has been establishing itself on the ground. It is time for all of us — the leaders on both sides, with support from the region and the international community, to end the conflict on the basis of relevant UN Security Council resolutions, and in a manner that meets the legitimate national aspirations of both peoples. Both sides should work to reverse the negative trajectory, to build trust and to restore hope that a negotiated two-state solution is not just a political slogan but a reality that can be achieved through negotiations in our lifetime.
Netanyahu Unruffled by Critical UN Envoy Report [Al Monitor]
Netanyahu ridiculed Mladenov’s claim that all the settlements violate international law that no “legal acrobatics” could get around. On Sept. 1, as luck or the calendar of the Supreme Court would have it, the top legal court in Jerusalem ruled that Israel was violating the laws it itself had legislated. The court ordered the evacuation of 17 structures in the outpost of Netiv Ha’Avot in the Etzion settlement bloc that were built without a license on private Palestinian land. In the ruling on the petition lodged by Palestinian landowners and the Peace Now organization, the Supreme Court justices rebuked the political echelon. They reminded the government that it was not empowered to legitimize ongoing illegality.
New Rule Makes It Harder to Remove Illegal Settler Structures [Jerusalem Post]
A new procedure set in place on Tuesday will make it harder for the civil administration to remove illegal settler structures. Until now, the civil administration had the sole authority to remove unauthorized modular homes and structures within 60 days of their construction.
Israel to Obey Order to Demolish Settlement: Minister [The National]
Israel will carry out a court order to demolish the wildcat Jewish settlement of Amona in the West Bank by the end of the year, defense minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Thursday. A proposed plan to move the settlement to a nearby site has raised international concern.
Israeli Groups Seek Referendum on Disputed Territories [Ynet]
‘Decision 50’, led by prominent figures in Israel’s self-proclaimed peace camp has urged PM Netanyahu to call a nationwide referendum on whether Israel should withdraw from disputed territories; activists claim control over territories brings Israel closer to its end.
Palestinian Restores 50 Dunums of His Land in Salfit from Israel After 12-year Legal Battle [Maan]
A total of 50 dunams (12.3 acres) of land were returned to a Palestinian resident of the village of al-Zawiya in the northern occupied West Bank district of Salfit, after a 12-year legal battle following the declaration of his property and surrounding areas as “state land” by Israel.