UNESCO to vote on Jerusalem resolution

Israeli government issues condemnation as UN body prepares to vote on status of holy sites in disputed city.

UNESCO is expected to vote on the status of holy sites in the occupied eastern part of Jerusalem, prompting condemnation from the Israeli government. 

With a vote scheduled for Tuesday, Israel has called for other member countries to vote against it. 

The resolution blames Israel for “persistent excavations, tunnelling, works and projects in East Jerusalem”, which it has occupied along with the rest of the West Bank since the 1967 Middle East war. 

“We expect that the international community will follow suit and take actions according to their international legal obligations,” Ammar Hijazi, from the Palestinian Authority foreign ministry, told Al Jazeera. 

Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the besieged Gaza Strip, is considered illegal under international law. 

More than half-a-million Israelis live in Jewish-only settlements across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, according to the Israeli rights group B’Tselem.

On the watch of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, settlements expanded an estimated 23 percent between 2009 and 2014.