Palestine urges world to end Israeli aggression

WASHINGTON

Palestine's President Mahmoud Abbas urged the international community Thursday to end Israeli aggression in Palestine.

"What would you do if someone tried to take the land of your country and how would you react," Abbas told the UN General Assembly.

"The international community should uphold its responsibilities to bring an end to this aggression and arrogance," he said. "It is time to implement the resolution adopted by you, otherwise all these resolutions are pointless."

Palestine will not surrender to Israel's occupation, he said, and he expects the UN to implement just one resolution out of many taken on Palestine.

Abbas said Palestine is a "constructive player" in the international community, and deserves to be a full member of the UN. It has been a non-member observer state since 2012.

"Jerusalem will always remain the eternal capital of Palestine regardless of any schemes and actions," he said and reiterated his support for a two-state solution.

Jerusalem remains at the heart of the perennial Middle East conflict, with Palestinians hoping East Jerusalem -- occupied by Israel since 1967 -- might eventually serve as the capital of an independent Palestinian state.

Abbas insisted on UN-sponsored peace negotiations between the two sides, and reiterated he would not accept U.S. mediation.

The Israeli-Palestinian peace process collapsed in mid-2014 due to Israel's continued refusal to halt West Bank settlement building and accept pre-1967 borders as a basis for a two-state solution.

Abbas has been ruling out any role for Washington in the peace negotiations since U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in late 2017.

Israeli occupation will inevitably end and Palestine will continue to call for respect to its rights, he concluded.

*Vakkas Dogantekin contributed to the story in Ankara.