RAMALLAH, Saturday, October 24, 2020 (WAFA) - The United Nations Security Council will hold an open session on Monday to discuss President Mahmoud Abbas’ request to the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, to start actual steps for convening an international peace conference to achieve the two-state solution, end the Israeli occupation, and achieve the independence of the Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, today said Palestine's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Riyad Mansour,

Speaking to the official Voice of Palestine radio this morning, Mansour said that the session has been prepared for with all the members and concerned parties, including Russia, which is the current president of the Security Council. It was agreed to give it additional importance by raising the level of representation to foreign and deputy foreign ministers of some countries, in addition to the permanent delegates.

The session will address the settlements, annexation steps, and violations against prisoners, especially the hunger-striking prisoner Maher al-Akhras, he said.

Mansour stressed that what is required from the Security Council is to decide on the initial steps to prepare for the international conference and to make a comparison between the Palestinian proposal, which calls for broad participation by the international community on the basis of the international resolutions, and the narrow American position, which seeks to impose the US view as the only way and US President Donald Trump's vision of dragging the Palestinians to negotiate with the Israelis on the basis of the "Deal of the Century", which is rejected by the Palestinians on the official and popular levels.

M.K.