ISLAMABAD, SEP 26 /DNA/ – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates welcomed the annual update by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights of its database of companies and entities involved in activities related to illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.

The update adds 61 companies, bringing the total number of listed entities to 214. This update constitutes a further step toward advancing accountability, ending impunity, and addressing the economic and financial networks that sustain and entrench Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise.

We call on all States to use available legal, political, and diplomatic tools to ensure that entities under their jurisdiction do not contribute to or benefit from illegal settlement activities. We also call on companies and financial and economic entities involved in such activities to immediately cease and withdraw from any involvement that sustains them.

The State of Palestine will continue its diplomatic and legal efforts to advance accountability, uphold the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination, and work toward ending the Israeli occupation and realizing an independent and sovereign State of Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital.