Tarique slams new Israeli annexation in West Bank

Expressing unwavering solidarity with the Palestinian people, BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman yesterday voiced deep concern over Israel's latest plans to expand illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

In a statement on his verified Facebook page, he warned that this move would further erase hopes for a viable Palestinian state and push the region closer to chaos.

"I strongly call upon the international community to condemn and put pressure on the Israeli government for their settlement plans and ask that the International Court of Justice not delay their verdict of a clear genocide in Gaza by the Israeli government while Palestinians suffer even more," the BNP leader said.

He said Bangladeshis around the world have always stood in solidarity with their brothers and sisters in the Palestinian Territory against violent colonial oppression and erasure, and continue to do so proudly.

"Recent news of plans to expand settlements in the occupied West Bank that would make any future Palestinian state virtually impossible is heartbreaking," Tarique said.

He said the continued apartheid and attack on the people of Palestine, their culture, their land, their history by Benjamin Netanyahu is no less than genocide and planned ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. "It is abhorrent."

The BNP leader also voiced concern for the safety of millions of Bangladeshis living and working in the Middle East and Gulf regions.

"Many Bangladeshis live and work within the Middle East and Gulf region. I am deeply concerned for them and their families' safety and security because of how this Israeli government is pushing the entire region towards an abyss," he said.

Israel last month approved a new illegal settlement just east of Jerusalem, known as E1, a key area that the international community says, if implemented, would jeopardise a future Palestinian state.

The move will nearly bisect the West Bank, and according to Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich "bury the idea of a Palestinian state".