UNITED NATIONS: The Palestinians’ top diplomat said a cease-fire in Gaza will enable 2 million Palestinians to sleep Thursday night but its not enough at all and the world must now tackle the difficult issues of Jerusalem’s future and achieving an independent Palestinian state.
Riad Al-Malki told reporters on the sidelines of an emergency meeting of the U.N. General Assembly on the conflict between Israel and Gazas militant Hamas rulers that while an Israeli cease-fire is good it doesnt address the core issue that started the violence.
He said that is Jerusalem, citing the desecration by Israeli soldiers and settlers of the Al-Aqsa mosque, Islams third holiest site, and the Israeli policy of evicting Palestinians from their homes in the citys different neighborhoods including Sheikh Jarra.
Israel captured east Jerusalem, along with the West Bank and Gaza territories the Palestinians want for their future state in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel annexed east Jerusalem in a move not recognized internationally, and views the entire city as its capital. The Palestinians view east Jerusalem which includes major holy sites for Jews, Christians and Muslims as their capital, and its fate lies at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and has triggered serious violence in the past.
Al-Malki accused Israel of intending to erase the multi-cultural, multi-religious character of the city of Jerusalem saying: We are opposed to that, we reject that, and well keep working to prevent that from happening.
Thursdays assembly meeting began with speeches from a dozen ministers, almost all from Arab and Muslim countries, and is eventually expected to hear over 100 speakers.
He said the overwhelming messages from the meeting was not only condemning Israeli atrocities and crimes in Gaza but reminding the world of the need to care for and defend Jerusalem, nd to work for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
Todays events here in the General Assembly and what has been happening has refocused the attention again on the issue of Palestine, Al-Malki said.
He said Israels normalization of relations with some Arab countries including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, doesnt waive the questions of the future of Jerusalem and a Palestinian state.
To the contrary, we see today that the issue of Palestine and the Palestinian question, the issue of Jerusalem and the occupation of Jerusalem, is the most important issue for all Muslims and Arabs and the world alike, Al-Malki said.
We want to see the Palestinian people free and also living in their own independent Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital, he said.
The last direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians took place in 2014. The Palestinians broke off relations with former U.S. president Donald Trumps administration in December 2017 after he after he recognized Jerusalem as Israels capital.
Trump further angered the Palestinians by presenting a two-state peace plan that would have required significant Palestinian concessions on territory and sovereignty, moved the U.S. Embassy there from Tel Aviv, cut off aid to the Palestinian Authority and rescinded a longstanding legal opinion that Israeli settlement activity is illegitimate under international law.
President Joe Biden won initial but cautious plaudits from Mideast analysts when he rejected the Trump administrations unabashedly pro-Israel stance and tentatively embraced the Palestinians by restoring aid and diplomatic contacts. But he also retained key elements Trumps policies, including on settlements.
In the past two weeks, the United States blocked four attempts by the U.N. Security Council to demand an end to the Israeli-Hamas conflict, saying a statement could interfere with diplomatic efforts. U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told Thursdays assembly meeting, I dont believe there is any country working more urgently or fervently toward peace.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the General Assembly that he and U.N. Mideast envoy Tor Wennesland were engaged in extensive diplomatic efforts in the region, including with Egypt, Jordan and Qatar. Wennesland was in Qatar, which has relations with Hamas, when the cease-fire agreement was announced.
Whether a serious effort takes place to try to revive efforts to end the decades-old Palestinian-Israeli conflict remains to be seen.
Israels ambassador to the U.N. and the U.S., Gilad Erdan, accused the General Assembly of hypocrisy on Thursday for supporting and not condemning Hamas, which doesnt accept Israels right to exist.
He referred to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announcement in late April that the first Palestinian elections in 15 years would be delayed. Abbas cited a dispute with Israel to call off a vote in which his fractured Fatah party was expected to suffer another embarrassing defeat to the Hamas militant group. Hamas called the move a coup.
If this institution strengthens Hamas, it will make the possibility of Hamas replacing the Palestinian Authority much more likely and eliminate the chance of future dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians, Erdan said. There is nothing to discuss with a terror organization committed to your annihilation, nothing.
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