Israeli and Palestinian representatives have agreed in Egypt to establish a “mechanism” with which they will try to calm the violence in the West Bank under Israeli military occupation before Ramadan.
In a statement, both sides stressed the need for Israelis and Palestinians to prevent any actions that would threaten the security of the holy sites in Jerusalem during Ramadan.
Representatives of the USA, Egypt and Jordan also took part in the meeting. In a joint statement, Israeli and Palestinian representatives also reaffirmed commitments made at a previous meeting in Jordan last month, adding that calming the situation is imperative.
At the meeting in Jordan, Israel pledged to halt discussions on any new settlements for four months and to suspend the “legalization” of settlements in the occupied territory, which are illegal under international law, for six months.
However, he is a far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotričwho is also responsible for settlements on the West Bank, announced immediately after the meeting that he did not intend to comply with the agreement.
In Jordan, representatives of the two sides met for the first time in years and pledged to calm down, but the violence on the ground has not abated.
Palestinian political groups reject such talks
All major Palestinian political groups except Fatah, which controls the Palestinian Authority, oppose such talks and call for their boycott, reports Al Jazeera.
In a joint statement, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine announced that it represents the persistence of the Palestinian self-governing authorities established in the 1990s by the Oslo Accords. “coup d’état against the will of the people”. As the two movements pointed out, Israel is using these meetings to carry out even more aggression against the Palestinians.
The meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh is also rejected by the Hamas movement, which rules in occupied Gaza.
The Palestinians demand the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on 22 percent of historical Palestine, which has been under Israeli military occupation since 1967, but Israel persistently denies them and expands illegal Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territory.
Israel has already settled more than 700,000 settlers in these settlements or cities. The settlements are strategically built to cut through the West Bank and separate East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank, thereby preventing the establishment of a comprehensive and unified Palestinian state.
Israeli occupation forces and Israeli settlers have already killed 89 Palestinians this year, including 18 children and one woman. 14 people died in Palestinian attacks this year.
Source: Rtvslo
