The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross expressed regret Wednesday for comments made by an ICRC representative in Jerusalem who earlier this month suggested Israeli settlements were a "war crime," and promised the term would never be used again to refer to settlements.
"The expression 'war crime' has not been used by the ICRC in relation to Israeli settlements in the occupied territories in the past and will not be used anymore in the present context," Geneva-based ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger wrote to Congressman Eliot Engel (D-New York), reported The Jerusalem Post..
The Congressman had threatened to withhold aid that the ICRC would never again use the phrase "war crime" in the context of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, said Reuters.
"The reference made to it on May 17 was inappropriate and will not be repeated," he added.
The Jerusalem representative, Rene Kosimik, had angered Israel when he said: "The installation of a population of the occupying power in occupied territory is considered an illegal move, it is a grave breach (of law). In principal it is a war crime." Kellenberger insisted however that Israel's settlements are a breach of the 1949 Geneva Convention – Albawaba.com
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