President Mahmoud Abbas said today that if Israel implements annexation of occupied Palestinian territories, which is an illegal step, it will entail that Israel assumes all responsibilities for the occupied territories, as per the Fourth Geneva Convention, as an occupying power.
Speaking before the closing session of the Arab Parliament virtual meeting, President Abbas renewed his rejection of annexing any inch of the occupied Palestinian land to the occupying state, as well as the so-called deal of the century and all American-Israeli plans and what will come out from them.
He said that the decision of the Palestinian leadership in its meeting, attended by all factions of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), to be absolved from the agreements with Israel “does not mean that we do not want peace, but rather that we extend our hands to peace and are ready to go to an international conference, and work through a multilateral mechanism, which is the Quartet, to sponsor negotiations on the basis of international legitimacy resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative.”
He called on the Arab Parliament to put all efforts into delivering the message to the American administration and Israel of the total rejection of any plans or measures it undertakes to annex any inch of the occupied Palestinian territories, and to ask the United Nations Security Council and the General Assembly to take immediate and firm measures to prevent the implementation of the annexation plan.
The President called for working with the European Union and its member states to take immediate and urgent steps to stop the annexation schemes and recognize the state of Palestine, while calling on the regional and international parliaments to reject these Israeli plans and the implications of the annexation plan on peace chances in the region and world peace and security.
“We have received assurances from all Arab countries that they are committed to the Arab Peace Initiative from A to Z, and they reject any peace relations with Israel before achieving peace with the state of Palestine in accordance with this initiative and international legitimacy resolutions, and also reject any normalization steps with Israel,” he stressed.