Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is calling on the UN Security Council to reject a key report by the diplomatic Quartet that condemned both Israeli settlement building and Palestinian incitement to violence.
Abbas says in a statement on Wednesday the report “does not further the cause for peace.”
“We hope that the Security Council does not support this report,” he adds.
Mahmoud Abbas, center, at Eid al Fitr prayers in Ramallah on July 6, 2016. (Flash90)
The report published last Friday by the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States was criticized by both Israel and the Palestinians as being unfair.
The report is due to be presented for discussion at the UN Security Council in the coming weeks, though a date has not yet been set.
Netanyahu has also rejected the report, calling it a “myth” that settlement building in the occupied West Bank is an obstacle to peace.
There is no formal response from the Quartet but a source involved with the report says there were positives to be drawn from the responses.
“If both President Abbas and Prime Minister Netanyahu find the report disturbing, then the report must contain some truths that both are uncomfortable with,” he says.
— AFP
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From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, July 6, 2016
