Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas outlined a series of demands for Israeli concessions during a meeting on Tuesday with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Ramallah.
Abbas called on Washington to pressure Israel to forgo construction plans in Judea and Samaria, curb IDF counter-terrorism operations in Palestinian-controlled areas and cancel punitive measures imposed on the P.A. in response to its ongoing “political and legal war” against the Jewish state.
“Two nations are in your womb, Two peoples shall be separated from your body;
One people shall be stronger than the other, And the older shall serve the younger.” Genesis 27:23
Israel’s Security Cabinet approved the measures earlier this month after the U.N. General Assembly, at the urging of the P.A., passed a resolution calling on the International Court of Justice to “render urgently an advisory opinion” on Israel’s “prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of Palestinian territory.”
“We affirm that the Israeli government is responsible for what is happening today, because of its practices that undermine the two-state solution and violate the signed agreements, and because of the lack of international efforts to dismantle the occupation [and] end the settlement regime, and the failure to recognize the Palestinian state and its full membership in the United Nations,” said Abbas.
“The continued opposition to the efforts of the Palestinian people to defend their existence and their legitimate rights in international forums and courts, and to provide international protection for our people, is a policy that encourages the Israeli occupier to commit more crimes and violates international law,” he added.
For his part, Blinken suggested that the “horizon of hope” for the Palestinians was shrinking and stressed the need for a two-state solution to end the conflict with Israel.
