Palestinian FM meets with Czech counterpart in Ramallah

RAMALLAH, Palestine

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki on Wednesday met with Czech counterpart Tomas Petricek in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, the Palestinian Authority (PA)’s administrative capital.

After the meeting, al-Maliki told reporters that he and Petricek had discussed means of enhancing bilateral relations and international issues of common concern.

He added that he had briefed the Czech FM on the current situation in the Palestinian territories and recent Israeli military escalations against the blockaded Gaza Strip.

Al-Maliki went on to criticize continued U.S. support for Israel and Washington’s reluctance to condemn Israel's rights violations at the UN Security Council.

He also addressed Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s abrupt resignation on Wednesday, saying the PA had not been surprised by his decision.

“Lieberman aspires to a higher position [in the Israeli government] at the expense of Palestinian blood,” al-Maliki said.

Lieberman announced his resignation on Wednesday, one day after a ceasefire was reached between Israel and Gaza-based Palestinian resistance factions.

Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Secretary-General Saeb Erekat, for his part, criticized Petricek’s Tuesday visit to East Jerusalem, during which he was accompanied by an Israeli diplomat.

Erekat urged the Czech FM to “abide by the rules of international law and the EU’s stated positions on [Israeli-] occupied East Jerusalem”.

Petricek’s visit to East Jerusalem, Erekat said, “only serves to legitimize Israel’s illegal occupation of the city”.

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