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Hope, two-state principle key for peace in region: Palestinian president

Xinhua, March 10, 2016 Adjust font size:

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday that hope and the two-state solution on the 1967 borders are key for peace and stability in the region.

During his meeting with Biden, who is on a two-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories, for two days, Abbas said "gaining hope back to the Palestinians and ensuring a political horizon to achieve the choice of the two states on 1967 borders will be the key for peace, security and stability," according to the Palestinian official state-run news agency, WAFA.

Abbas attributed the ongoing violence between Israelis and Palestinians to the Jewish settlement issue and Israel's occupation.

He expressed his condolences and grief after an American citizen was killed on Tuesday in a stabbing attack in Jaffa, adding "200 Palestinians" were killed by Israelis "in the past five months."

The Palestinian president also stressed that it is necessary to fight all types of terrorism, and that defeating the Islamic State needs the establishment of an independent state of Palestine with east Jerusalem as its capital.

Biden reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to the principle of the two-state solution and the necessity to keep it, while reiterating the permanent U.S. position concerning settlements in the Palestinian territories.

Biden arrived in Israel Tuesday for talks over a 10-year multi-million-U.S.-dollar military aid package to Israel. The talks came against the backdrop of a violent day that witnessed at least eight Palestinian attacks, in which an Israeli-American and seven Palestinians were killed.

The current wave of violence between Palestinians and Israelis broke out in October, 2015, and has claimed the lives of more than 185 Palestinians and 30 Israelis. Endit