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Palestinians circulate draft UN resolution to mandate Israeli withdrawal

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The Palestinian leadership has begun to circulate a draft resolution it will submit to the United Nations (UN) Security Council, calling for Israel to withdraw from the West Bank and East Jerusalem before November 2016.

The existence and basic outline of the draft resolution has been well known for several weeks. However, the Jerusalem Post says that the resolution is part of a three-step Palestinian diplomatic offensive. If the Security Council resolution fails, which is widely expected with the United States almost certain to exercise its veto, then the Palestinian leadership will apparently appeal to the International Court of Justice. Should this also prove fruitless, then the Palestinian Authority (PA) is reportedly threatening to end security cooperation with Israel, although such a move could prove detrimental move to the PA too. The Guardian says that the draft resolution has been circulated among Arab states and some UN Security Council members.

American leaders have repeatedly opposed such unilateral actions as detrimental to the chances of successful bilateral Israeli-Palestinian talks. Indeed, the Guardian quotes US Ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, who said “We are aware of [PA] President Abbas’s plan and we continue to believe, to strongly believe, that the only way to a negotiated solution is through negotiations between the two parties.”

Nonetheless, Palestinian Ambassador to the UN, Riyad Mansoor described the prospect of direct talks with Israel as “futile,” calling them “the old-style negotiations that led to failure.” Mansoor added that the Palestinians are determined to “force Israel to negotiate in good faith the end of occupation within a time frame,” through a UN resolution. Should that fail, Mansoor said the Palestinians will utilise the International Criminal Court and “we will join other treaties and agencies.”

Meanwhile, yesterday Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Army Radio that he had earlier this year agreed an American framework proposal to negotiate a peace deal with the Palestinians based on the pre-1967 borders with territorial swaps.