BRUSSELS, February 9, 2017 (WAFA) – President Mahmoud Abbas Thursday renewed calls on the international community to enforce the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334, which considers Israel‘s settlement activity a "flagrant violation" of international law and has "no legal validity."

Abbas reiterated in a joint press conference with the Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel in Brussels the closing statement of the Paris peace Conference which stressed the importance of safeguarding the two-state solution and ending the ending settlement activities.

“We reaffirm the need to end the Israeli occupation of 1967 and establishing a follow-up mechanism to help achieve peace,” he said.

Abbas said the world needs to differentiate between the occupied Palestinian territories including Jerusalem and Israel, and reject the apartheid system which will drag everyone into a cycle of conflict and make the chances to achieve peace much slimmer.

He said that “passing a law to legalize settlers’ theft of Palestinians’ land and announcing thousands of new settler units in our occupied land is an attack against the Palestinian people that is contrary to international law and a barefaced challenge of the international position.”

Abbas stressed that the Palestinians will confront Israel in international forums and continue to work with international courts to protect their existence and presence in their state, which also includes building their future state.

“We will continue to build the institutions of our state and economy, unite our people and prepare for local municipal elections in May 2017,” he added.

M.H./M.K.