PA calls on Egypt to mobilise international support for UN move

The Palestinian Authority has asked Egypt to use all of its resources to mobilise international support for its bid for recognition at the United Nations. The PA aims to raise the status of Palestine to that of a non-member State based on the borders of June 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

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A member of the Fatah central committee of and president of its parliamentary block, Azzam al-Ahmad, has been holding talks with a number of Egyptian officials in this regard. “We asked the Egyptian Foreign Ministry to continue its efforts to mobilise votes for the Palestinian endeavour at the United Nations,” he said in a statement afterwards.

The Fatah official met with Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr to discuss the issue, which is due to be put to the UN later this month. “We have asked the minister to put pressure on hesitant countries to back the Palestinian request,” said Mr. Al-Ahmad.

National reconciliation was on the agenda in a meeting between Al-Ahmad and the head of Egyptian intelligence, Minister Raafat Shehata, and his aides. It was agreed that there is a need to remove all obstacles to the implementation of the Cairo and Doha agreements, and to bring an end to the suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza.

Al-Ahmad also confirmed that he briefed Hamdeen Sabahi, a candidate for the Egyptian presidency earlier this year, on the latest developments regarding Palestinian reconciliation and the lack of commitment to what was agreed upon in Cairo and Doha. He blamed Hamas in Gaza for blocking the work of the Central Election Commission. “That’s the main obstacle to the formation of a national unity government,” he claimed.

In his statement, Mr. Al-Ahmad pointed to the seriousness of the ongoing Israeli violations against the Palestinian people, especially the constant Judaisation of Jerusalem and continued settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank.