BRUSSELS, The European Parliament Wednesday called for convening an international peace conference based on the two-state solution.
The European Parliament (EP) advocated in a press release the convening of an international conference to “bring the two-state solution back on track in order to restore political prospects for long-lasting peace.”
In a resolution adopted on Wednesday, EP “called for an end to the protracted Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the occupation of Palestinian territories through the resumption of genuine peace talks”
EP reiterated their “unwavering support for a negotiated two-state solution on the basis of the 1967 lines with two sovereign, democratic states and with Jerusalem as the capital of both states.”
MEPs recalled that Israeli colonial settlements are “illegal under international law and call]ed[ for their immediate end”, while stressing that “the recent decisions to establish new ]colonial[ settlements further undermine prospects for a viable two-state solution.”
Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Minister Riyad Malki welcomed the EP’s call for convening such a conference, while stressing the need that such a call should be translated into practical steps that would safeguard the two-state solution as well as the prospects for reviving the peace process.
He renewed his call for European Union states that have not recognized the State of Palestine so forth to immediately do so and put genuine pressure on the incoming Israeli coalition government to dissuade it from implementing the policies envisaged by radical far-right settlers and politicians known for Jewish supremacist rhetoric, notably Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.
In the meantime, the Socialists and Democrats Group (S&D) reiterated in a press release on Wednesday their “strong call for relaunching concrete negotiations around the only possible way forward for a lasting and solid peace: two sovereign States, based on the 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as the capital of both States.”
They pointed that they “delivered a firm condemning of Israeli forces’ violent acts against Palestinians and the spreading of illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied territories”, while urging “the EU to take leadership on a possible International Peace Conference and call for the end of the blockade of the Gaza Strip.”
Source: Palestine News & Info Agency