Palestinian Authority (PA) “foreign minister” Riyad al-Malki said on Sunday that Israel has revoked his travel permit, i24NEWS reports.
Malki said that he was returning from the inauguration of Brazilian President Lula da Silva when he learned about the move and was forced to wait for an hour in line with ordinary Palestinian Arabs to enter PA-assigned areas of Judea and Samaria via the Allenby Bridge border crossing from Jordan.
Malki told reporters that Israel’s actions are against international law and urged the international community to “take a clear position” on the matter.
His statement claimed the revocation was ordered without taking into consideration Malki's “status and legal capacity.”
Malki’s statement comes a day after Defense Minister Yoav Galant ordered that the entry permits of three senior PA officials be rescinded after they entered Israeli territory to visit the home of terrorist Karim Younes, who was released from prison last week after serving 40 years for the murder of IDF soldier Avraham Bromberg in 1980.
On Friday, Israel announced of a package of sanctions targeting the PA in response to its bid to convince the United Nations General Assembly to back an International Court of Justice case against Israel.
The sanctions include a freeze on all Palestinian Arab construction in Area C of Judea and Samaria - including a crackdown on illegal construction - and the seizing of 139 million shekels of tax funds collected by Israel from PA workers on behalf of the PA. The money will be transferred to a fund for Israeli victims of Palestinian Arab terrorists.
The PA condemned the new sanctions, saying the measures will not prevent it from fighting “Israeli occupation”.
In a statement, the PA’s foreign bureau said “these measures are a reflection of the Netanyahu government's racist colonial platform against our people, a flagrant violation of Israel's obligations as an occupying power, and a persistence in Israel’s rebellion against international law and signed agreements.”
It stressed “that these and other measures will not discourage our people and our leadership from continuing the struggle and the political, diplomatic and legal action to provide international protection for our people and to put an end to Israel’s continued impunity from accountability, on the way to forcing it to end its occupation of the land of the State of Palestine.”