Moscow prepares inter-Palestinian conference

MOSCOW

Russia wants to organize an inter-Palestinian conference to address reconciliation issues between different Palestine political forces, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday.

"Since the end of February this year the Foreign Ministry's leadership has been conducting very intensive contacts with representatives of various Palestinian movements,” toward that effort, she said at a news conference in Moscow.

"We expect a new all-Palestinian conference in Moscow as a result of these contacts. In our view it should help to reach agreements on the restoration of national unity on the political platform of the Palestine Liberation Organization," she said.

Moscow sees overcoming the split between Ramallah and the Gaza Strip a key condition to establish sustainable, direct Palestinian-Israeli talks, reaching a comprehensive settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the basis of generally recognized international legislation, including relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council and General Assembly, and Arab peace initiative, added Zakharova.

The leaders of Fatah, Hamas, Palestinian National Initiative and Islamic Jihad have so far visited Moscow she said, and other Palestinian political forces are expected to arrive in the near future.

U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled Jan. 28, his so-called “Deal of the Century” to end one of the longest-running disputes in the Middle East where he proposed a patchwork Palestinian state boxed in by illegal Israeli settlements as well as recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank and Jerusalem as Israel's "undivided capital."

The so-called “peace plan” unilaterally annuls previous UN resolutions on the Palestinian issue and suggests giving Israel almost everything it demanded.