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Palestinians call on UN to tackle hard-nut settlement issue

Xinhua, December 22, 2016 Adjust font size:

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki affirmed Thursday that a draft resolution against Israeli settlement construction will be submitted to the UN Security Council.

Malki told Xinhua that the consultations have been completed and the draft has been deposited in blue color to Spain, which is the current chair of the UN Security Council.

"We have requested a special session to look into the draft resolution and we are now awaiting the response of the Council chairmanship to confirm the date," said the minister.

He expressed hope that the resolution would be adopted unanimously and overcome the veto for the first time, highlighting that the draft formation was based on the two state solution.

He added that several amendments were included in the latest draft based on the deliberations with the Security Council member states, and particularly with the permanent members who enjoy the veto power.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the U.S. to veto the resolution to abort it, according to the Israeli public radio.

The Arab Quartet convened in Cairo last Monday and formed a new three-way committee to contact UNSC member states to know their final responses regarding the draft resolution against Israeli settlements.

The issue of settlement is considered one of the most complicated issues between Palestinians and Israel. Endit