RAMALLAH: President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed this evening Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib at the Presidential Compound in Ramallah. During the meeting, the President briefed the Belgian guest on the latest developments regarding the Israeli aggression on Gaza and the ongoing efforts to achieve a ceasefire.

He emphasized the importance of concerted efforts by the international community to implement the resolution issued by the UN Security Council regarding the ceasefire in Gaza, and to compel Israel to comply with the orders issued by the International Court of Justice, as well as to facilitate the entry of humanitarian, relief, and medical aid into all of Gaza through all crossings to end the famine being inflicted upon our people.

President Abbas reiterated Palestine’s firm rejection of the displacement of any Palestinian citizen, whether in Gaza or the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, emphasizing that Gaza is an integral part of the State of Palestine, and that it is unacceptable to deal with the
Israeli occupation’s schemes to separate Gaza from the rest of Palestinian territory or seize any inch of its land or reoccupy it.

He stressed the imperative of halting the Israeli occupation’s practices and continuous assaults against the Palestinian people in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, especially the restrictions imposed on worshippers entering Al-Aqsa Mosque during the holy month of Ramadan, and depriving Christians from accessing the Church of the Holy Sepulchre during Easter.

The President affirmed that security and peace can only be achieved through the full membership of the State of Palestine in the United Nations by a resolution of the UN Security Council and the complete withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from the land of the State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital based on the borders of June 4, 1967.

Simultaneously, President Abbas expressed gratitude to Belgium for its supportive positions towards the two-state solution and the establishment of an independent P
alestinian state, its affirmation of the unity of the Palestinian territory, its rejection of the reoccupation of Gaza or encroachment on its land.

He called on countries that have not recognized the State of Palestine to do so, and affirmed the importance of continuing to support the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA).

Source: Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA