RAMALLAH, Tuesday, January 05, 2021 (DNA)
– President Mahmoud Abbas highly appreciated the firm positions of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states in support of the Palestinian cause and condemning Israeli practices, Presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said today.
“The Palestinian Presidency also welcomed the positions of the GCC countries which condemned the Israeli practices aimed at changing the character and identity of Jerusalem, the policy of house demolitions, the annexation and settlement,” said Abu Rudeineh.
He said the GCC countries’ stance, which stressed that need to implement UN Security Council Resolution 2334, and their support to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) are highly appreciated.
Abu Rudeineh said that President Abbas expressed deep appreciation for the clear and strong positions of the leaders of the GCC Summit which was held today in Al-Ula in Saudi Arabia, in which they stressed that the Palestinian cause is the core issue of Arabs and Muslims.
President Abbas also appreciated the leaders’ support for the permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people over all the Palestinian territories occupied since June 1967, the establishment of the independent Palestinian state with its capital East Jerusalem, and the rights of refugees are guaranteed, in accordance with the Arab Peace Initiative, international references and United Nations resolutions.
The GCC Summit’s final statement affirmed the significance of the Palestinian cause and the need to activate the efforts of the international community to resolve the conflict in a manner that meets all the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.
The statement also condemned the Israeli occupation authorities’ demolition of dozens of homes in East Jerusalem, calling for international intervention to stop targeting the Palestinian presence and forcible displacement of citizens from the city of Jerusalem in an attempt to change the city’s legal character and demographic composition, which contradicts with international and humanitarian laws and related agreements.
The statement also rejected any Israeli approach to annex any part of the West Bank lands to Israel, considering such moves as a clear violation of the United Nations Charter, principles of international law and United Nations resolutions.
The GCC leaders also condemned Israel’s policy of demolishing Palestinian homes and displacing and expelling the Palestinian population, stressing that this would undermine the possibility of achieving a two-state solution and lasting peace.
