Middle East Desk
Report
RAMALLAH: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel on Friday of destroying the two-state resolution with actions he stated could lead Palestinians to demand equal rights inside one binational state comprising Israel, the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
Addressing the U.N. General Assembly by way of video hyperlink from the West Bank, Abbas, 85, urged the worldwide neighborhood to act to save the two-state system that for many years has been the bedrock of diplomacy for the Israeli-Palestinian battle. Abbas stated Israel was “destroying the prospect of a political settlement based on the two-state solution” by way of its settlements on West Bank land it captured within the 1967 Middle East struggle.
Most international locations view the settlements as unlawful, a place Israel disputes.“If the Israeli occupation authorities continue to entrench the reality of one apartheid state as is happening today, our Palestinian people and the entire world will not tolerate such a situation,” Abbas stated. Israel rejects accusations of apartheid.
“Circumstances on the ground will inevitably impose equal and full political rights for all on the land of historical Palestine, within one state. In all cases, Israel has to choose,” Abbas stated from Ramallah, the seat of his Palestinian Authority, which has restricted self-rule within the West Bank.There was no instant Israeli touch upon Abbas’ remarks. Critics say inside Palestinian divisions have additionally contributed to the impasse in U.S.-sponsored peace talks, which collapsed in 2014.Under interim peace accords with Israel, Abbas’ PA was meant to train management in Gaza as nicely. But his Islamist rivals Hamas seized the coastal enclave in 2007 and years of on-and-off talks have failed to break their deadlock.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, a far-rightist who sits atop a cross-partisan coalition, opposes Palestinian statehood. His authorities has vowed to keep away from delicate selections in the direction of the Palestinians and as an alternative give attention to financial points.In his U.N. deal with, Abbas threatened to rescind the Palestinians’ recognition of Israel if it doesn’t withdraw from the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem inside a 12 months.
“If this is not achieved, why maintain recognition of Israel based on the 1967 borders? Why maintain this recognition?” Abbas stated.While some Palestinians and Israelis help the thought of a single binational state, most have very totally different concepts of what that entity would seem like and the way it could be ruled. Israeli governments have seen a one-state idea as undermining the essence of an unbiased Jewish state. U.S. President Joe Biden reiterated his help for the two-state resolution throughout his personal U.N. deal with on Tuesday, saying it could guarantee “Israel’s future as a Jewish, democratic state living in peace alongside a viable and democratic Palestinian state.”
