RAMALLAH
Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah on Sunday urged the international community to shoulder its responsibilities towards ending the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and to pressure Israel to abide by international resolutions.
During a meeting with visiting members of the Communist bloc in the European Parliament, Hamdallah called on the world community to adopt President Mahmoud Abbas’ plan which aims to set a timeline for the end Israeli occupation and establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Hamdallah also asserted the need for the European Union to play a more dynamic role in any future negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel.
He went on to accuse the Israeli government of seeking to abort the establishment of a Palestinian state through its ongoing "violations" against the Palestinian people and their land.
Israeli authorities last week announced the seizure of 4,000 dunam in the southern West Bank in a move aiming at expanding the Gush Etzion settlement.
Israeli settlement building in Jerusalem and the West Bank has recently swung into full gear after peace talks with the Palestinians collapsed earlier this year.
Palestinian negotiators insist that Israeli settlement building on Arab land must stop before any comprehensive peace agreement can be reached.
International law views the West Bank and East Jerusalem as "occupied territories" and considers all Jewish settlement building on the land illegal.
About 500,000 Israelis now live in more than one hundred Jewish-only settlements built since Israel seized the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967.
The Palestinians want these areas, along with the Gaza Strip, for an eventual independent state of Palestine.
By Anees Barghouthy
www.aa.com.tr/en
