PLO calls on int'l community to stop Israel from destroying peace process

Saeb Erekat, the secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), called Friday on the international community to prevent Israel from making policies that are "destructive to the peace process and the two-state solution."

Erekat's remarks came at his talks to ambassadors and official representatives to the Palestinian National Authority, including the U.S. Ambassador Donald Bloom.

In an emailed press statement, he said it is essential to enact the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 on the occupied Palestinian territories, especially East Jerusalem, and to hold Israel accountable to its "breaches of international law."

The PLO official also underscored the importance of implementing UN Security Council resolution 2334 that demands an immediate halt to Israeli settlement activities.

The key for peace, security and stability in the region "starts by drying out the Israeli colonial occupation and establishing the Palestinian state with full sovereignty on the borders of 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital," he added.

The Palestinians hope to garner support for a mid-January international peace conference in Paris, where foreign ministers from 70 countries, without representatives from the Palestinians or Israel, are expected to attend to reach an implementation mechanism and a time frame for the two-state solution.

On June 3, 2016, foreign ministers from 25 countries, including four Arab countries, gathered in Paris to debate the possibility of reviving the stalled peace process between Israel and the Palestinians based on the two-state solution.

Israel, however, has repeatedly said it is only committed to bilateral negotiations without preconditions.

The latest peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, brokered by the United States, lasted nine months and collapsed in April 2014 with no tangible results. Endit