Palestinian Authority (PA) cabinet leader Mohammad Shtayyeh said on Thursday that international and European pressures were what prevented Israel from implementing its plan to apply sovereignty over parts of Judea and Samaria.
The remarks were made in a telephone conversation between Shtayyeh and the German foreign minister, which focused on recent developments, and on the agreement normalizing ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.
Shtayyeh noted that the Palestinians do not agree to being used as a means to promote normalization with Israel, which contradicts the Arab peace initiative of 2002.
“Peace for peace means ignoring the existence of the occupation and all the international decisions that have affirmed Palestinian rights and is a free concession to the occupation,” said Shtayyeh.
“The Palestinian leadership is ready to examine any international effort based on the Palestinian right to establish their state within the 1967 borders with its capital in East Jerusalem, as part of an international framework that rests on international law and legitimacy after Israel announces the repeal of the annexation plan.”
With regard to the letter sent by the US to the UN Security Council requesting to initiate the “snapback” mechanism, the E3 Foreign Ministers Heiko Maas, Jean-Yves Le Drian and Dominic Raab said today (20.08.):
On 20 August, the US sent a letter to the UN Security Council requesting to initiate the ‘snapback’ mechanism, which allows a participant to the JCPoA to seek the reimposition against Iran of the multilateral sanctions lifted in 2015 in accordance with resolution 2231, adopted by the UN Security Council.
France, Germany and the United Kingdom (“the E3”) note that the US ceased to be a participant to the JCPoA following their withdrawal from the deal on May 8, 2018.
Our position regarding the effectiveness of the US notification pursuant to resolution 2231 has consequently been very clearly expressed to the Presidency and all UNSC Members.
We cannot therefore support this action which is incompatible with our current efforts to support the JCPOA.
France, Germany and the United Kingdom (“the E3”) are committed to preserving the processes and institutions which constitute the foundation of multilateralism. We remain guided by the objective of upholding the authority and integrity of the United Nations Security Council. We call on all UNSC members to refrain from any action that would only deepen divisions in the Security Council or that would have serious adverse consequences on its work.
We remain committed to the JCPoA despite the significant challenges caused by US withdrawal. We believe that we should address the current issue of systematic Iranian non-compliance with its JCPoA obligations through dialogue between JCPoA participants, including through the Joint Commission and use of the Dispute Resolution Mechanism. In order to preserve the agreement, we urge Iran to reverse all measures inconsistent with its nuclear commitments and return to full compliance without delay.
As we have already underlined, including in our June 19 statement, we have serious concerns regarding the implications for regional security of the scheduled expiry of the UN Conventional arms embargo, particularly given Iran’s destabilising activities, which continue unabated. The E3 are determined to bring adequate answers to these challenges and will continue to work with all UNSC members and stakeholders to seek a path forward that preserves space for further diplomacy. Our efforts will be guided by the need to uphold the authority and integrity of the UN Security Council and to advance regional security and stability.
Western secret service sources revealed to the German Welt paper that Hizballah owned the stock of ammonium nitrate that triggered the Aug. 4 disaster in Beirut, killing 170 people and devastating the city. Hizballah’s Hassan Nasrallah categorically denied his organization had anything to do with the 2,750 tons of the chemical stored in Beirut port since 2013. However, those sources now reveal that, around this date, Hizballah took delivery of at least three shipments of this dangerous substance from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Al Qods, which was then headed by Gen. Qassam Soleimani, who was killed last year by a US drone. Hizballah is said to have paid a billion Iranian rials (around 61,438 euros) for the supplies on April 4, 2014.
The ammonia nitrate shipments came in by sea, air or overland through Syria. The freight from October 2013 is said to have been transported in flexible bulk containers by plane, presumably with one of the private Iranian airlines, which are front companies of the IRGC. One of them, Mahan Air, was deprived of the right to take off and land in Germany last year.
Mohammad Qasir, 57, is said to have been Hizballah’s logistics master for 20 years and responsible for paying for the ammonium nitrate deliveries. He has been on the US list of sanctions to stop Hizballah funding since 2018. In Nov. 1982, during the Lebanon war, his brother Ahmed Qasir drove a truck into the headquarters of the Israeli army in Tyre and killed at least 75 Israeli soldiers, 14 of their Arab prisoners and himself. The explosive used in this attack: ammonium nitrate. Mohammed knowingly sacrificed his brother.
On the Iranian side of the dangerous chemicals’ supply line to Hizballah is Behnam Shahriyari, who has been subject to US sanctions since 2011. He appears as the head of the Iranian transport company Liner Transport Kish, which apparently also handled the ammonium nitrate delivery to Hizballah.
An expert talking to Welt offered several reasons to explain why Hizballah maintained a stock of explosive substances at Beirut port at that time. One was its possible use in support of Bashar Assad’s battle against Syria rebels; another related to the tunnels Hizballah was then driving under the border into Israel. The Shiite terrorists may have intended to use the ammonium nitrate for attacks on northern Israel. Those tunnels were uncovered and deactivated by the Israeli military last year.
Also last year, the London Telegraph reported that Hizballah had cached thousands of ice packs in four properties in northwest London, a deception tactic also used in Germany. A counter-terrorism source told the paper that the ammonium nitrate was to be used for “proper organized terrorism.”
