Palestinian official calls for Arab League to withdraw Arab Peace Initiative

Arab leaders should withdraw the Arab Peace Initiative as the Israeli occupation has ignored it, Ahmed Bahar, first deputy speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), said.

Speaking before the start of the Arab Summit in Kuwait, Bahar said the initiative should be replaced with a wide and extensive diplomatic campaign on an international level aimed at isolating the Israeli occupation and fighting its racist policies against Palestinians.

He also called for ignoring the US-backed peace plan, which undermines the Palestinians’ rights and is “clearly biased” to the side of the Israeli occupation.

Bahar called on Arab leaders to take action against the leaders of the Israeli occupation and to adopt an official and organised plan to prosecute them before international tribunals.

Highlighting the deteriorating situation of the Palestinians, Bahar called for maintaining conditions, including Jerusalem and the right of return for Palestinian refugees, as well as for the Arab League to enforce its initiative to lift the siege on Gaza.

The Palestinian official called for the Arab League to ask Egypt to open the Rafah Crossing and put pressure on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to implement agreements on internal Palestinian cohesion.