ADIDS ABABA, May 15, 2018 (WAFA) - The chairperson of the African Union Commission on Palestine, Moussa Faki Mahamat, expressed on Tuesday “deep concern” over the prevailing situation in the Palestinian territories following the relocation of the United States Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

He stressed in a statement that the relocation of the embassy to Jerusalem “can only further heighten tensions in the region and complicate the search for a lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

He reiterated the solidarity of the African Union with the Palestinian people “in their legitimate quest for an independent and sovereign State with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

Mahamat called for “renewed and genuine international efforts to find a just and lasting solution to the conflict, based on the existence of two States, Israel and Palestine, within the framework of the relevant United Nations pronouncements.”

He also strongly condemned what he described as “the disproportionate use of force by the Israeli army” against the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza on Monday, which so far resulted in the killing of over 60 Palestinians and injury of over 2000.

M.K.