?President Mahmoud Abbas receiving in Ramallah Australian Governor-General David Hurley. (WAFA Images / Thayer Ghanayem)

RAMALLAH, Wednesday, January 22, 2020 (WAFA) - President Mahmoud Abbas received today at the presidential headquarters in Ramallah the Governor General of Australia, David Hurley, and the accompanying delegation during which he briefed the delegation on the latest development in Palestine.

After welcoming his Australian guest who is visiting Palestine for the first time, President Abbas affirmed Palestine‘s aspiration to strengthen bilateral relations with Australia for the benefit of the two peoples, thanking Australia for its economic and development support, including support to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

At the beginning of the meeting, the President extended his and the Palestinian people’s condolences to the Australian Governor-General for the victims and the big losses in the Australian forest fires.

The President briefed his guest on the latest developments in the Palestinian territories and what the political process is facing due to lack of commitment by the Israeli side to the agreements signed with international sponsorship, the Israeli government‘s continuation of settlement activities and the seizure of Palestinian land, and its efforts to change the character of the city of Jerusalem, which effectively undermines the two-state solution supported by the international community.

The President reaffirmed the official Palestinian position rejecting any attempts to resolve the Palestinian issue away from the relevant United Nations resolutions, noting that the decisions taken by the US administration, which are biased and supportive of the Israeli occupation and contrary to international law, demand the presence of a multilateral international mechanism to sponsor any future negotiations that aim at ending the Israeli occupation of the land of the State of Palestine, with its capital East Jerusalem, on the 1967 borders, so that everyone in this region can live in security, peace and good neighborly relations.

He pointed out that the international community should intervene to pressure the Israeli government to allow legislative and presidential elections to take place inside occupied Jerusalem and the rest of the Palestinian territories in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, so that they can be held in the nearest time possible.

For his part, the Governor-General of Australia expressed his country‘s support for peace and stability in the Middle East.

He pointed to Australia looking forward to enhance friendship and cooperation between the two sides in many areas of common interest in the interest of both countries.

M.K.