President Mahmoud Abbas Thursday evening called for the provision of urgent international protection to the Palestinian people amid an alarming Israeli escalation in the West Bank.
Abbas made his remarks during a meeting with European Union Special Representative for the Middle East Peace Process, Sven Koopmans, at the presidential headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
During the meeting, President Abbas reviewed the recent political developments on the Palestinian arena, describing the ongoing Israeli attacks against Palestinians across the occupied territories as “unbearable”.
Israel has escalated tensions in the occupied territories, including East Jerusalem, since the start of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan following police crackdown on Palestinian worshippers in Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, encroachments upon the mosque compound and the killing of seven Palestinians since Wednesday morning.
He pointed that the Palestinian leadership was scheduled to convene on Sunday to take decisions in this regard as he stressed the need for the international community to provide protection to Palestinians and implement the United Nations resolutions.
He expressed his gratitude to the EU along with its members states for their political positions in support of just and comprehensive peace based on the international law and the Palestinians’ right to gain their freedom and independence as well as for their support to state-building.
He expressed Palestine’s aspirations to further develop the partnership agreements with the EU and remove all obstacles to the strengthening of bilateral ties.
The EU diplomat affirmed the EU’s commitment to achieving the two-state solution based on international law, continuing economic cooperation and reinforcing Palestine-EU partnership.
Koopmans took it to Twitter to state that he had “a good, productive meeting with President Abbas this evening to discuss current problems and to explore what we can contribute to improve the situation and work towards peace.”