Arab League calls for greater effort to end Israeli occupation

The Arab League has urged the international community and the Arab world to put an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and to implement the international resolutions pertaining to the two-state solution, Al-Arab Al-Jadeed reported.

The call came as Israeli occupation forces continue their crackdown on Palestinians.

The bloc’s Assistant Secretary-General of Palestinian Affairs, Ambassador Said Abu Ali, criticised the lack of international will to end the Israeli occupation and enable the Palestinian people to obtain their right to self-determination and statehood with Jerusalem as its capital.

He was addressing the 97th four-day meeting of the Conference of Supervisors of Palestinian Affairs in Arab states hosting refugees, which started on Sunday in Cairo.

Abu Ali called for 2017 to be the year that marks the end of the Israeli occupation, stressing the need to work for a solution to the shortage of in UNRWA’s budget.

Zakariya Al-Agha, head of the Department of Palestinian Refugee Affairs of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, expressed hope that the new US administration will take a different stance from the one declared during the electoral campaign, one that respects the two-state solution endorsed by previous US administrations.

Al-Agha also expressed hope that an international conference for peace could be held before the end of this year based on the French initiative.

Speaking about the Israeli occupation he said: “The Israeli occupation is working to legalise the settlement outposts and to silence mosque loudspeakers which threatens to drag the whole region into disaster and trigger a religious war,” Al-Agha said.

He also pointed out that the siege and repeated aggression against Gaza is choking the Strip’s economy and has raised unemployment levels.