Palestine is counting on mobilizing the support of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) for the Palestinian cause and saving the two-state solution, which is threatened by Israeli policies, Palestinian media reported on Wednesday.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is currently in New York to participate in the 77th session of the UNGA, has held a series of meetings with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Jordan's King Abdullah II, Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Norway's Foreign Minister Anken Hoetfeldt, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA said.

The meetings "are an important opportunity to explain the Palestinian cause and the difficult situation in the Palestinian territories," Ziad Abu Amr, member of the Palestine Liberation Organization and deputy Prime Minister, told "Voice of Palestine," a radio station based in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Abu Amr, who accompanied Abbas, said the meetings discussed the Palestinian people's demand to end the Israeli occupation, recognize a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital and preserve the two-state solution.

"In his meetings, President Abbas calls on the international community to assume its responsibilities towards the continuation of the Israeli occupation and to provide international protection for the Palestinian people," Abu Amr said.

According to Palestinian officials, Abbas is scheduled to address the UNGA on Friday.

"President Abbas's speech before the UN General Assembly will be important and decisive and entail serious measures on the ground," Abu Amr said.

Abbas had earlier stated that the Palestinian side is ready to work during the year to demarcate borders and end all final status issues under the auspices of the International Quartet under the UN resolutions.

Palestine's envoy to the UN Riyad Mansour said in a press statement that President Abbas's speech will include "justified Palestinian anger after prolonging the occupation."

Mansour added that the speech would address the Palestinian endeavors at the UN to preserve the two-state solution.

The Palestinians want to establish an independent state alongside Israel on the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel in 1967, including the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Since 2014, when the direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians had stopped, the Palestinian cause was marginalized amid the refusal of the Israeli government to sit at the negotiating table to revive the stalled peace process.

The Palestinians are looking for a different approach from the international community towards finding a serious and quick solution to dealing with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

On Tuesday, Guterres and leaders of many countries delivered speeches during the UNGA, emphasizing the importance of resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry called on the international community to take measures to end the Israeli settlements and occupation of Palestinian state territories, including East Jerusalem.

Enabling the Palestinian people to exercise their right to self-determination in their homeland "is the key to achieving security, peace, and stability in the region," the ministry said in a statement sent to Xinhua.

"The existence and continuation of the occupation is the main reason for all the existing tensions and escalation campaigns in the conflict arena," the statement said.

Source:
courtesy of XINHUA NEWS AGENCY

by XINHUA NEWS AGENCY

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