Palestine President slams Israel for refusing to resume stalled Middle East peace talks

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas slammed the Israeli government for refusing to restart the stalled Middle East peace process on Tuesday, November 9, as per the reports from the official Palestinian news agency WAFA. It was reported that Abbas made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the Palestinian Central Elections Commission's new headquarters near the West Bank city of Ramallah. The Israeli-Palestinian peace process has been stuck since 2014 when the two sides failed to reach an agreement despite several rounds of talks mediated by the US.

According to ANI, "Israel can't reject making peace with the Palestinians forever," Abbas said, adding that the Israeli government's refusal to resume the Middle East peace process "will not benefit it." Meanwhile, Abbas has called for the UN Security Council resolutions to be implemented, stating that Palestinians refuse to live under Israeli occupation of their lands. Last month, according to a UN press release, United Nations Special Coordinator Tor Wennesland had expressed deep concern to the Council about Israel's continued settlement expansion, particularly into highly sensitive areas, which entrench the Israeli occupation, erode the possibility of a contiguous, independent, and viable Palestinian state, and further jeopardize the prospect of a two-state solution.

UN urges Israel to halt all settlement activity immediately

The two-State solution would create two states for two peoples: an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. In theory, this would give Israel security while also allowing it to maintain a Jewish demographic majority (allowing the country to remain Jewish and democratic), he added. Wennesland reiterated that settlements have no legal validity and are a flagrant violation of international law, urging Israel to halt all settlement activity immediately. He also stated that Palestinian unity is necessary for progress and that free, fair, and inclusive elections in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are the first step in that direction.

For more than a century, Israel and Palestine have been at odds with each other. While numerous attempts have been made to resolve the conflict, the battle, which has been fueled by regional annexation and religious opposition, appears to be far from over. While the Zionists, led by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, and the Palestinians, led by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), continue to vie for the sliver of land, another key player, Hamas, has emerged with its anti-Semitic charter.

Israel-Palestine peace talks

Representatives from the Israeli government and the Palestine Liberation Organization met in Madrid thirty years ago to begin bilateral talks. The so-called Middle East Peace Process, conceived at the meeting, was supposed to bring about a just and peaceful future in the territory between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, but it has instead consolidated a dire reality for Palestinians: permanent occupation by nuclear military power with an ever-expanding settler-colonial enterprise. 

The MEPP's main western sponsors, the US and the European Union have repeatedly introduced political initiatives under the guise of "peacebuilding" rather than pushing for a solution to end decades of exile, subjugation, and occupation over the last 30 years. Former US President Donald Trump introduced the so-called 'Peace to Prosperity' plan in 2020, which secured Israel's interests through a series of normalisation agreements with several Arab states. However, the central issue at hand, namely the defense of Palestinian rights against an ongoing military occupation and exile, has remained off the agendas of western brokers.

(With inputs from agencies)

(Image: AP)