Palestine's Abbas to call for peace conference at UN General Assembly meeting

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will call for an international conference for peace in the Middle East when he address the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, an official said.

Abbas will reiterate Palestine's commitment to any political initiative or move based on the international resolutions, the Arab peace initiative and the Palestinian merits, Nabil Abu Rdineh, an aide to Abbas, told the Ramallah-based Ayyam Daily in an interview published on Monday.

"President Abbas will demand a serious world pressure on Israel to stop settlement and the daily killing of Palestinians," Abu Rdineh said.

Abbas, who leads a high-ranking Palestinian delegation, arrived in New York earlier on Monday to join the annual UN General Assembly debates.

Violence has flared up in recent months, claiming the lives of at least 230 Palestinians and 34 Israelis since mid-September 2015. Israel says that most of the Palestinians were killed amidst stabbing, car-ramming, and shooting attacks.

The Palestinians and human rights organizations say that Israel is using excessive force to quell the uprising, and in many cases kill Palestinians who could be stopped without using lethal force or were mistaken to be attackers.

Israeli leaders accuse the Palestinian National Authority of "inciting" the unrest, while the Palestinians say it is the result of 49 years of Israeli occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, home to more than 5 million Palestinians, where they wish to establish their state. Endit