Palestinians call on Quartet to open "serious gate" for Mideast peace

A senior Palestinian official called on the international Quartet on Wednesday to launch a serious and meaningful peace process with Israel.

Reyad Mansour, the permanent ambassador of Palestine in the United Nations, told "Voice of Palestine" radio that the meeting of the Quartet that is held in New York "will be a broader with a large Arab participation."

The Quartet, which comprises the United States, the UN, Russia and Europe, convenes in New York on the sideline of the UN annual general assembly meetings.

The senior Palestinian diplomat also said the Palestinians are demanding "a real active international determination led by the five world great countries in the Security Council and supported by the Arab states."

He called on the Quartet "to get involved in peace, open new serious gate for the peace process and lead to ending the Israeli military occupation within an agreed upon time table that leads to a Palestinian independence."

The peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians had stopped in March 2014 after the U.S. sponsored direct talks between the two sides for nine months without achieving any tangible progress.

Meanwhile, Mansour told the Radio on the occasion of raising the flag of the state of Palestine later on Wednesday at the UN headquarters in New York that "this moment will be a moment of proud for all the Palestinian people."

"I hope that the Palestinians will go for the next step and raise the Palestinian flag on the territories of the independent state of Palestine with east Jerusalem as its capital," said Mansour. Endit