CAIRO
An Arab ministerial committee on Monday agreed to propose a fresh Arab resolution at the UN Security Council (UNSC) aimed at ending Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian territories, a committee source has said.
"The ministerial committee agreed during its first meeting to lay out an action plan for proposing a new Arab resolution at the UNSC that would aim to end Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories," the source said.
"The plan comes in light of decisions reached at last month's Arab summit in Egypt's [Red Sea resort town of] Sharm el-Sheikh," the source said.
At a joint press conference, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry – who chaired the meeting – said that the ministerial committee meeting "was held in line with the directives of the March Arab summit."
"The meeting discussed the optimum means by which the goal of ending Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories can be realized in light of regional and international efforts aimed at securing the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people," Shoukry said.
The foreign minister went on to note that a "comprehensive framework for future Arab action has been laid out in order to interact with international efforts and concerned parties that seek to achieve this goal."
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki, for his part, described the meeting as "positive," asserting that it "reflected the keenness of [Arab League] member states to implement decisions reached at the Arab summit, support the Palestinian cause, and end Israel's occupation."
Earlier Monday, Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said the Arab ministerial committee responsible for the Palestinian file was meeting in Cairo "to discuss a new Arab resolution."
"The new resolution takes into consideration international law provisions as they relate to the establishment of a Palestinian state on 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital," Erekat said on Palestinian state radio on Monday.
"The resolution will also take into account the release of Palestinian detainees and a resolution of the issue of Palestinian refugees in line with UN Resolution 194," Erekat said.
Headed by Egypt, the committee also includes Morocco, Kuwait, Palestine and Arab League Secretary-General Nabil al-Arabi.
In February, Jordan – the only Arab state that currently enjoys non-permanent UNSC membership – withdrew an Egyptian draft resolution on the issue.
Afterwards, Cairo and Amman announced that Arab League members had agreed to the move in order to submit a modified version of the draft, which, it is hoped, will receive the support of permanent council members.
