Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called for an international peace conference to be convened this year, to help settle the Israeli Palestinian conflict, as part of a proposed multilateral mechanism toward a two-state solution.
CGTN’s Liling Tan reports from the U.N.
In a rare appearance at the U.N. Security Council, Abbas requested a new peace effort that would include more international peace brokers.
“No country alone can solve a regional or international conflict without the participation of other international partners,” Abbas told members on Tuesday. “Therefore, to solve the Palestine question – and this is our position and our belief – it is essential to establish a multilateral international mechanism emanating from an international conference and in line with international law and the relevant resolutions to solve the Palestinian question, a multilateral international mechanism.”
His comments come in the wake of a controversial U.S. decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and to move the U.S. embassy there, from Tel Aviv.
Abbas said, “The outcomes of this conference should be as follows… acceptance of the state of Palestine as a full member of the United Nations. And this is what we deserve. Don’t you think we deserve to be a full member? Why not?”
Palestine is currently a non-member Observer State at the United Nations, and seeks full membership as a sovereign nation, in recognition of the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital.