News / Palestine

Israel destroying last opportunity for peaceful settlement: Abbas to UNGA

Friday, 25 September 2020 6:16 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 25 September 2020 7:04 PM ]

The photo shows Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, virtually addressing the general debate of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 25, 2020. (By AFP)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said that Israel is destroying its last chance for a peaceful settlement by pushing forward with the US-devised “deal of the century,” a plot that unilaterally grants Israel much of the occupied West Bank.

Addressing the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly on Friday, Abbas said the so-called plan would effectively annex 33 percent of Palestinian land, a clear violation of previous international accords.

“The Palestinian nation will continue with its endurance and resistance, will never surrender and will eventually be victorious,” Abbas said.

The Palestinian president called on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to launch an international conference that can make way for “a genuine peace process” early next year.

“Until when should the cause of the Palestinian people remain without a fair resolution? A solution should be conceived on the basis of international regulations.”

“Security, peace, stability and coexistence are not possible under occupation,” he added.

Algeria rules out rapprochement with Israel, says ready to host meeting of Palestine factions

Algeria once again rejects any normalization of relations with the Israeli regime, saying that Algiers is prepared to host a meeting of Palestinian factions as part of its efforts to support the Palestinian cause.

Abbas added that Israel and the US seek to subvert international regulations and accords with the “deal of the century.”

“The Palestinian Liberation Organization has not granted any individual or country permission to represent it or the people of Palestine,” he noted.

The PLO, which Abbas also chairs, has been historically regarded as the official representative of the Palestinian people in international agreements related to Palestine.

The Palestinian president also censured Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates for the formalization of ties with Israel earlier this month.

The states become only the third and fourth Arab states to establish formal ties with the occupying regime after Egypt and Jordan.

Abu Dhabi and Manama's agreements with Israel received condemnation from Palestinians as a betrayal of their cause, a sentiment echoed by Iran and Turkey and Muslim authorities throughout the region.

Amid increasing Israeli aggression, the Gaza-based Palestinian resistance movement Hamas and the Fatah Party - which rules the West Bank as a faction of the PLO - have pledged unity against Israel’s annexation plans.