Palestine, December 15: The Palestinians will demand a UN resolution declaring that all lands seized by Israel in 1967 are occupied territory because of stalled Middle East peace talks, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said on Tuesday.
“We will say to the Security Council that we want a resolution based on previous resolutions that the occupied territories are the lands occupied in 1967,” Abbas told his Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO).
“Israel accuses us of acting unilaterally but they act unilaterally every day,” he added, during a meeting of the umbrella organisation aimed at deciding whether to extend parliamentary and presidential mandates past January 24, when they run out and with no new elections set.
“Why are we doing this? Because the negotiations have stopped. Why have they stopped? Because Israel cannot stop the settlements or recognise international law.”
Israel last month agreed to a 10-month moratorium on new settlement construction in the West Bank after months of US pressure, but the Palestinians have said it is not sufficient for restarting peace negotiations.
The Palestinians have said any freeze must include east Jerusalem, which Israel annexed in 1967 in a move not recognised by the international community but which the Palestinians have demanded as their capital.
—Agencies