Fatah deputy chief Mahmoud al-Aloul said Tuesday that Israel’s annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank means permanently undermining the settlement process.
During a meeting with Canada’s Representative to the Palestinian Authority Robin Wettlaufer, Aloul stressed that this aggression, which is a flagrant violation of international legitimacy resolutions and marks an end to the settlement process, must be reined in.
His remarks highlighted the Palestinian Authority’s readiness to return to new negotiations within new arrangements if Israel halts the annexation process.
PA President Mahmoud Abbas had previously said the Palestinian leadership is ready to work for peace under a multilateral international mechanism.
He urged the Arab Parliament to exert all efforts to convey to the US administration that the Palestinians extend their hands for peace, but reject of any plans that allow the annexation of the Palestinian territories.
“We have received confirmations from all Arab countries that they are fully committed to the Arab peace initiative,” he said.
According to a letter sent to the international peacemaking Quartet (European Union, United Nations, Russia and the United States) and seen Monday by AFP, Palestinians are "ready to resume direct bilateral negotiations where they stopped,” in 2014.
“If Israel declares the annexation of any part of the Palestinian territory, that will necessarily mean the annulation of all signed agreements,” the PA wrote in its four-page letter.
“No one has as much interest as the Palestinians in reaching a peace agreement and no one has as much to lose as the Palestinians in the absence of peace,” it noted.
“We are ready to have our state with a limited number of weapons and a powerful police force to uphold law and order,” it said, adding that it would accept an international force such as NATO, mandated by the UN, to monitor compliance with any eventual peace treaty.
The text also proposes “minor border changes that will have been mutually agreed, based on the borders of June 4, 1967”, when Israeli forces occupied the West Bank.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
