BRUSSELS, Tuesday, February 05, 2019 (WAFA) – Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki stressed the immediate need to salvage the two-state solution and warned against the Israel’s unilateral racist actions against the Palestinian people.
Al-Malki led a Palestinian delegation to the Belgian capital, Brussels, to attend the Arab-European ministerial meeting in preparation for the inaugural EU-Arab Summit, scheduled to be hosted by Egypt in Sharm El Sheikh on February 24-25.
In his remarks at the meeting, al-Maliki warned that Israel was moving ahead with completing its racist settler-colonialist project targeting the Palestinian people and territory and making every effort to prevent the establishment of an independent and geographically contiguous Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Such Israeli violations would fail the two-state solution and prevent the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state, which would require the immediate salvage of the two-state solution, al-Malki added.
He thanked all those who contributed funds to the support of the United Nations agency responsible for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, and called on the international community to continue its support to the agency, as well as the European countries to recognize a sovereign Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The top diplomat also warned against Israel‘s non-compliance with the signed agreements, the last of which was Israel’s decision to eject the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH), as well as against the displacement of Palestinians and the demolition of internationally-funded projects, including EU-funded schools.
He reiterated President Mahmoud Abbas’ vision for peace, which calls for the convening of an international peace conference and the formation of a multilateral group to protect and achieve peace in accordance with United Nations resolutions.
Participants in the meeting stressed the importance of solving the Palestinian cause on the basis of the two-state solution for regional stability.
On the sidelines of the meeting, al-Malki met separately with his Hungarian counterpart Péter Szijjártó, UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and his Swedish counterpart Margot Wallström to discuss issues of common concern.
K.T./ K.F.
