RAMALLAH, November 23, 2016 (WAFA) – Presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said on Wednesday that Israel continues to destroy any chance or create the proper environment to get back to peace negotiations based on United Nations resolutions and the two-state solution.
“Israel does not defy the Palestinian people alone, but rather the entire Arab world and the international community and its resolutions,” Abu Rudeineh told Voice of Palestine radio.
He added, “Settlements are illegal and no matter how long it takes not a single settlement will remain in the West Bank, just as the Gaza settlements were demolished.”
He said “the Palestinian, Arab and international position is a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders. Israel should be careful that its policies are not only dangerous for the Palestinian people but rather they are dangerous for the entire region and could lead to drastic consequences and situations that cannot be contained.”
Commenting on a recent meeting between chairman of the Israeli Jewish Home party Neftali Bennet with advisors for the United States President-elect Donald Trump, Abu Rudeineh said: “We have not yet heard anything from the new U.S. administration that is supposed to take office in two months. But for us, what the Israeli envoy did does not concern us and will not be binding to the Palestinian people. It could, though, lead to further instability.”
He said news about Bennet’s meetings was reported only in the Israeli media. Besides, he added, regardless of what went on, the Palestinian position that says peace based on justice, the international borders set in the UN resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative will not change.
Regarding Palestine’s intention to submit a draft resolution in the United Nations Security Council against Israeli settlements, he said that talks between Palestine and Arab countries are still underway, explaining that in two days, the Arab foreign ministers are going to meet during the Arab-African summit.
“We will go to the Security Council when we have the opportunity to do so and after we finish consultations on all the details,” Abu Rudeineh remarked, adding that the entire world is critical of the settlements and Israel should understand that non-compliance with international law will not lead to a solution and the conflict will continue for a long time.
Abu Rudeineh concluded that the Palestinian people are not interested in talk about autonomous rule or regional arrangements, and any solution not based on Arab and international resolutions will not have a chance to survive.
M.N./M.A.
