Palestinian president calls on UN to halt Israeli settlement activities
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called on the UN to end Israel’s "apartheid" regime in the occupied Palestinian territories.
“We are entrusted and you are entrusted to end apartheid in Palestine," said Abbas while addressing the 72nd UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday.
He further condemned Israel’s settlement activities, stressing that they are "everywhere" and are jeopardizing the so-called two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"The two-state solution is today in jeopardy. We cannot as Palestinians stand still in the face of this ongoing threat that is targeting our national, political and social existence on our land, and endangering regional and international peace and security. We will have to take steps or look for alternatives to preserve our national existence and to keep open the horizons for peace and security. However, all the alternatives we are looking into will be non-violent alternatives, non-violent, non-violent," he said.
About 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 illegal settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem al-Quds.
Palestinians want the West Bank as part of a future independent state, with East Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital.
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A UN Security Council resolution passed last year condemned all Israeli settlement construction on the occupied Palestinian territories. The landmark Resolution 2334, passed on December 23, 2016, called the Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem al-Quds a “flagrant violation of international law.” The resolution also called on Israel to stop all such construction.
"If the United Nations does not want to implement its resolutions or to attempt to implement them, then who will implement them? Israel does not have the will... This is your responsibility as well," the Palestinian president stated.
"To save the peace process and the two-state solution, I urge this organization and your honorable states to... actively pursue efforts to bring an end to the Israeli occupation of the State of Palestine within a set timeframe," Abbas added.
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