The United States is trying to "beautify the image of the Israeli occupation" following the publication of its annual report on human rights, said Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
The 2018 report used Israel, the Golan Heights, the West Bank and Gaza to describe the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights instead of the description in the previous report, the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
The report also does not directly mention the occupation of the Palestinian territories, and used only the term in quotations from human rights organizations. The 2017 report included the occupied territories in reference to the Palestinians.
Ashrawi said it is now clear that the Trump administration is pushing all branches of the government to beautify the Israeli occupation and its extensive violations of human rights.
Ashrawi added that the legal and political position of Palestine and the Syrian Golan Heights as a territory under Israeli occupation can not be questioned under international law.
A spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declined to comment on the US report.
