RAMALLAH, Saturday, December 21, 2019 (WAFA) – Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh urged Japan today to pressure Israel to allow Palestinian voters in occupied Jerusalem to cast their ballot in the forthcoming Palestinian general elections, not scheduled yet, together with the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories.
Shtayyeh briefed visiting Japan’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Keisuke Suzuki, of the ongoing efforts to hold the overdue legislative and presidential elections, as a prelude to tangibly ending political divisions in Palestine, especially after all factions have agreed on President Mahmoud Abbas’ initiative on the general elections.
Shtayyeh also briefed Suzuki on the government‘s strategy to achieve gradual disengagement from the Israeli occupation, which has started with the halt of medical transfers to Israel, the reinforcement of the health sector, and the strengthening of national agricultural production with the launch of the first agricultural cluster in Qalqilya.
On the sideline of the meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office in Ramallah, an agreement was signed between Japan and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), under which Japan will provide $11.2 million to help maintain the Agency’s core services to thousands of Palestinian refugees in the Middle East.
“We appreciate this generous Japanese support for UNRWA, and we are happy that the world has renewed the mandate of the UNRWA for three years, and that the world has stood up to support UNRWA with all that it can,” Shtayyeh said during the signing ceremony.
He continued, “Japan provides us with assistance not only for the UNRWA, but also for infrastructure projects… because Japan believes that this aid can help establish an independent Palestinian state and achieve a two-state solution [of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict].
Meanwhile, Suzuki expressed Japan’s firm support for Palestine and said he hopes this contribution can help achieve peace and stability in the region.
Israel captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 war and annexed it in a move that has not won international recognition. Palestinians seek East Jerusalem as the capital of their state.
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