Israel-Palestinian Peace Needs Int'l. Law As Basis To Prevent Failure - UN Official

Any peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians must be based on international law, which would ban Israeli settlements in the West Bank, rescind Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem and allow Palestinian refugees to return to their ancestral homes inside the Jewish state, UN Special Rapporteur Michael Lynk said in a press release on Friday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th June, 2019) Any peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians must be based on international law, which would ban Israeli settlements in the West Bank, rescind Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem and allow Palestinian refugees to return to their ancestral homes inside the Jewish state, UN Special Rapporteur Michael Lynk said in a press release on Friday.

"Without the framework of international law, any peace plan, including the forthcoming proposal from the United States, will crash upon the shoals of political realism," Lynk said in the release.

Lynk's comments come after a two-day workshop in Bahrain that focused on economic aspects of a peace plan that is being crafted by the Trump administration.

Lynk explained that for any peace plan to work, Palestinians must be granted statehood, construction of Jewish settlements must end, Palestinian sovereignty over East Jerusalem must be granted and the right of refugees to return must be endorsed.

The Special Rapporteur said that international law - built upon the principles of humanitarian protection, human rights, equality and justice - has been expressed in numerous of United Nations resolutions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.