Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh today urged France to recognize the State of Palestine as a means to salvage the two-state solution.
Speaking during a meeting with the French Consul General Renier Trokaz at his office in Ramallah, Shtayyeh urged France to recognize the State of Palestine on the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, as a measure to salvage the diminishing prospects for achieving the two-state solution given the new political changes.
He brief Trokaz on the escalating Israeli violations against Palestinians, especially settler attacks perpetrated under the watch of the Israeli military, movement restrictions manifest in increasing checkpoints and barriers, daily raids and detentions, and the continued siege of the Gaza Strip.
He also briefed the French diplomat the efforts made to ensure successful elections in Palestine, as he described holding general elections in Palestine as an “existential issue”, and affirmed that the government will make all efforts and facilities to ensure that elections are held in the optimal manner.
He stressed the need for the international community to put immediate serious pressure on Israel, the occupying power, to ensure elections are held in Jerusalem and to ensure the participation of Palestinians there Palestinian people as candidates and voters in the elections.
Shtayyeh also informed the French diplomat on the government’s efforts to rein in the novel coronavirus outbreak, in addition to contacts with many countries worldwide to secure the vaccine.
