A saudi one. And police in georgia fire water cannon and tear gas to Disperse Protesters body outside parliament demanding an election. Thank you very much for joining us the u. S. Has abandoned its non standing position on israeli settlements in the occupied west bank saying it will no longer consider them illegal secretary of state michael bell says the construction of civilian settlements is not inconsistent with International Law says he will leave the status of the west bank to israelis and palestinians to negotiate calling the establish of civilian settlements inconsistent with International Law hasnt worked as an invents the cause of peace. Hard truth is there will never be a judicial resolution to the conflict in arguments about who is right or wrong as a matter of International Law will not bring peace this is a complex political problem that can only be solved by negotiations between the israelis and the palestinians when israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu has welcomed washingtons decision this is the people of israel this is a historic day and another great achievement to our policy after president trouble recognize jerusalem as the capital of israel recognized sovereignty over the Golan Heights the u. S. Administration has now put an end to the lie that settlements are illegal. Saya better catches the palestinian chief negotiator he says the u. S. Decision is a violation of International Law israeli settlements in the occupied palestinian territories including is jerusalem. Not only illegal under International Law they are war crimes and the statement of mr secretary of state of the United States is absolutely. Rejected and must be condemned. Because once superpowers once the term of mr bush and decide to undermine International Law once they become an administration thats pro is that i was a patient pro israel war crimes and this is constitute a major threat to International Peace and security and this is turning International Community from the rules of International Law the doors of solving conflict by peaceful means into the horrors of the jungle. And the Jordanian Foreign minister has tweeted saying the settlements are an illegal action that will kill the 2 state solution jordans position in condemning them is unwavering he says we warned against dangerous consequences of the us change of position on settlements the European UnionsForeign Policy chief. Has reaffirmed the e. U. s policy on israeli settlements saying all settlement activity is illegal under International Law and it erodes the viability of the 2 state solution and the prospects for a lasting peace while we have 3 correspondents covering all angles of the story in a moment well go to Harry Fawcett in west jerusalem and need abraham in ramallah in the occupied west bank but 1st to jordan in washington d. C. Ross just how significant a shift in u. S. Policy is this decision and why now. Well there are reports that this was supposed to have happened perhaps a week or so ago but then there was the ongoing conflict between hamas fighters and the israeli army in the southern part of that country and so there was a delay reportedly but this is a significant change this is a change in 41 years of u. S. State Department Legal opinion which had been tweaked a bit by the u. S. President excuse me Ronald Reagan but that was in the early 1980 s. For the most part u. S. President s and their governments have said that settlements of Israeli Citizens in the occupied west bank are illegal because of standing International Law under the geneva conventions and under a number of Un Security Council resolutions going back to the early 1970 s. They have repeat it really criticized these efforts to expand the number of israelis living in the occupied west bank without a comprehensive peace settlement between the israelis and the palestinians and of course those who have been watching in recent years know that the presidency of barack obama was quite adamant in driving that point home and in basically standing aside when there was a question before the u. N. Security council in december 2016 about this very issue even though the Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu was allowing the construction of these communities to take place seemingly without fear of International Punishment all right ross thank you for that mess go over to jerusalem now and Harry Fossett harry the timing of this is certainly very interesting just how big of a game changer is this u. S. Decision on the ground. Well i mean in terms of the policy for israel and its continued settlement construction the occupied west bank obviously it gives israel another justification to continue in that vein one of the questions is whether it will give Benjamin Netanyahu any further leeway to exercise officially more israeli sovereignty in the occupied west bank of course before the last election in september he promised to annex the Jordan Valley in its entirety. And that was something he said he would do after being given a mandate which of course he didnt get in another inconclusive election what didnt happen then was explicit u. S. Support for that announcement so this while it isnt directly talking about that is of course a big signal the United States does not challenge the legality or the illegality of settlements in the occupied west bank and further nessun yos own electoral fortunes its a very important and sensitive time hes in the in the middle of trying to convince israel that any plans that his rival benny gantz has in his last 2 days of his opportunity to try to form a Coalition Government any plans he has of trying to form a minute minority government with the support of palestinian israeli parties in the Israeli Parliament that that would be a huge threat to the israeli state that terrorists would celebrate that tehran would celebrate hes been arguing against the joint list grouping of parties having anything to do even from the outside with a gun said ministration and this gives him the opportunity to further drive a wedge between benny gantz is blue and white party and the palace in israeli parties indeed he was tweeting to that effect benny gantz is giving a statement of support of this us announcement the palace in israeli parties led by iman know they have rejected and condemned it along with the voices youve been hearing from the. The west bank as well and so this is it whatever the motivations of it if something is likely to be used for. His benefit is used trying to cling to power all right harry thank you for that lets get reaction now from the occupied west bank media even aim is in ramallah for us need to what palestinian leaders saying about this u. S. Decision mostly condemning it saying that although it wasnt surprising from an administration that has been siding with the right wing Israeli Government its still nevertheless as horrific and as difficult for palestinian officials to hear weve heard from the spokesperson of the palestinian president to dana who says its not up to the u. S. To the legitimate story to legitimize. Illegal israeli settlements in the occupied west bank weve heard also from Hamas Movement to us said that this is a continuation of a u. S. Policy that has been showing a cover and providing a cover for the Israeli Occupation to member folly we are almost 2 weeks away from the 2nd anniversary from the announcement of the u. S. President on trump of the u. S. Is intention to recognize jerusalem as the israeli capital which eventually happened and we saw moving the u. S. Embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem what about the Palestinian People need to how do these settlements affect their daily lives. Of course the issue of settlements its at the core of the Israeli Palestinian conflict its something that palestinians face on a daily basis were not talking about units that are scattered here or there but they are planted inside the occupied west Bank IncludingEast Jerusalem they are connected by a series of roads infrastructure they are taking up palestinian resources than they were if palestinians will tell you that theyve rendered the west bank into a piece of swiss cheese that they are killing any opportunity for a contiguous palestinian future palestinian state of course the israelis have been using this support of donald trump since his election 3 years ago peace now Organization Says that plans for a new illegal israeli settlements have doubled persons on the ground would tell you that they have to see settlements mushrooming on a daily basis so its a very difficult issue for palestinians and we we heard many many of them saying that this decision will give even more of a green light to the Israeli Government to continue building more and more israeli settlements thank you for that need a brain life for us in ramallah in the occupied west bank now this latest us move is part of a bigger shift in american policy under President Donald Trump in december 27th formally recognized as the capital of israel he then ordered the us embassy to relocate from tel aviv to jerusalem this angered palestinians and do drew Widespread International condemnation and then in march this year trump recognized the occupied Golan Heights as part of israel the directive made the u. S. The 1st country to recognize israeli rather than syrian sovereignty over the region all this is also promising a socalled deal of the century to resolve these really palestinian conflicts and bring peace to the region that speak now to joel rubin whos a former u. S. Assistant deputy. And secretary of states who is now the president of the Washington Strategy group his life from the u. S. Capitol thank you so much for being with us. So as weve heard that another big shift in u. S. Policy on the palestinian israeli issue is another gift to netanyahu what are the motivations here yeah this is deeply problematic its very troubling that the Trump Administration believes that this is the right thing to do in general and certainly this time and my fear is that this is a green light to a creeping israeli an extension of the west bank that we very well could see become official israeli policy and now the United States would have no reason to oppose it so why now clearly because thats a yahoo is in a tough reelection moment he may go through a 3rd round of votes and he wants to get all of the right wing support that he can for his base but also for President Trump why now because his biggest donor Sheldon Adelson has been asking for this for a number of years and trump is in trouble and now he gets a chance to get benefits a helpless a yahoo and b. Help him self politically here at home but the loser is the United States on one level but clearly the palestinians are the real casualty of this horrible policy International Law and joel clearly states that settlements are illegal weve heard to the European Unions reaction does this announcement by the Trump Administration further isolate the u. S. And what will it change the realities on the ground do you think. So its hard to imagine the United States getting any more isolated than we have become on the middle east but this has been the approach of President Trump he is not interested in alliances a he has not shown a strong interest in the European Union in nato in the United Nations and he has some key allies in the middle east saudi arabia is the one that comes to mind most closely that he likes to have a close relationship with but he doesnt really take into consideration how the allies feel so this is consistent with that approach and now the danger is that our allies like jordan and egypt who he will occasionally notice as important countries for the United States and for security there are unhappy and im sure saudi arabia as well is not interested in having this conflict be perceived as one where they are siding with the Trump Administration so present trouble here a negative blowback but he doesnt really d Pay Attention to that so much for his calculations so what about jarryd question a socalled dean of the century then where does this leave that does this mean that the 2 state solution is that once and for all. Its never been clear what this deal of the century was going to look like and clearly Jared Kushner doesnt have much confidence in it because neither he nor the Trump Administration is un failed it and it looks like this is something that is really been more of a messaging vehicle to try to describe an interest in peace but theres no there there and right now the palestinians have to be looking at others in the region and looking at allies United States and saying can we get a change can we get Something Different because this idea of a deal of the century is just an illusion of the century at this point. A lot of people will say today especially the palestinians that the u. S. Is no longer qualify to play ever old in the space process under this administration do you think that whoever comes after after this administration will be able to undo all this and put the u. S. Back on track as. A negotiator in this crisis as a viable negotiate. It its hard to gauge who will come in next in this moment but clearly that id states is a critical player President Trump he is disqualified himself from peacemaking at this stage but yes if another president comes in if its a democrat and all the democrats right now are on the record of supporting a 2 state solution many of many of them have been very aggressive in their opposition to president trumans policies so yes they can come in and they can turn things back in the other direction and try to lean into this issue but the danger is as you know better than i in the region a year from now is an eternity and a lot can happen on the ground and the israelis are not going to sit quiet but its in israels interest and its the key thing to remember that all this discussion its also in israels interest to not end up in the part state its actually have peace with the palestinians and moving forward on settlements uncontrolled is not going to help them get there either thank you so much for sharing your views with us joel rubin former u. S. State Department Official joining us now from washington thank you very much for your time. In other world news dozens of protesters are staged a dramatic escape from the polytech e Polytechnic University in hong kong but many more antigovernment protesters remain trapped but hes have warned them to surrender and that is that their only option mesko to clark. Hong kong forests for an update on the situation on the ground just give us a sense of whats happening right now at the University Campus this morning. Well as you mentioned a number of overnight we have reports of about 100 after midnight here in hong kong who were escorted out by a bunch of lawmakers so the councilors here the lives of counselors who negotiated with police to get a safe exit with those students there are a number of the 16 years of age they were charged on the spot they were arrested or maybe charged down the track the rest were detained and taken away and we also had some dramatic escape as well where we are now this is where a number of the protests took place almost like a distraction at the university so those other protesters who were still holed up inside could have skype so we still believe theres a hardcore group the hold up university in the callan campus but certainly overnight we saw some of skype but where we are now this is quite a dramatic scene where we are and weve got situations like this scattered across all around the university were about a kilometer from the university right now and this is as i mentioned with thousands of people took to the streets last night to distract the police so those people of the protesters students inside polytechnic could get out and so what kind of damage and disruption is there on the stre