President Mahmoud Abbas today briefed the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola on the latest political developments.
President Abbas had a meeting with Metsola at the presidential headquarters in the West Bank City of Ramallah during which he briefed her on the latest developments on the Palestinian arena, including incessant Israel’s attacks against the Palestinian people and holy sites in Jerusalem, Israel’s actions that alter the longstanding status quo at Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and killings of Palestinians in addition to unabated colonial settlement construction on occupied land.
He apprised her of the Israeli occupation authorities’ action in Jerusalem, with particular focus on home demolitions, forced expulsions of Palestinian families besides to Israel’s insistence on taking unilateral measures that are tantamount to apartheid and racial discrimination.
He affirmed Palestine’s keenness on fulfilling its obligations under the United Nations resolutions while pointing that the Palestinian side looks forward to the creation of a political horizon that would bring the Israeli occupation to an end and realizes the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the borders of 1967, with Jerusalem as its capital.
He underscored ongoing commitment to building state institutions that are committed to the rule of law, reinforcing the partnership among the government, civil society organizations (CSOs) and the private sector in addition to strengthening the role of women and youth in institution building.
He expressed his appreciation of the European Parliament, the European Union and member states’ efforts aimed at ending the occupation and achieving peace in the region based on the UN resolutions and international law, so that two states — Palestine and Israel — will be able to live side by side in peace and security.
He thanked the top European official on the EU and Member States for their assistance to help build Palestinian state institutions while reiterating Palestine’s commitment to further develop bilateral relations and promote bilateral partnership agreements to strengthen the friendly relations between Palestine and Europe.
Metsola reiterated the EU’s positions in support of the peace process in accordance with the vision of the two-state solution and based on UN resolutions and international law, while affirming the EU’s opposition to colonial settlement construction.
She described the meeting as “good” and “constructive” and added in a tweet: “Achieving peace in Middle East remains a key priority for EU and for the international community. The European Parliament will keep doing all we can to reinvigorate the peace process.”
Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)