BICOM

A senior Palestinian official yesterday claimed that during the coming weeks, the Palestinian Authority (PA) will press for the United Nations (UN) Security Council to adopt a resolution mandating that Israel withdraw from the West Bank.

PLO Secretary-General Yasser Abed Rabbo told Palestinian reporters, “The Palestinian leadership has taken a final decision and we will go to the Security Council soon.” The existence and basic outline of the draft resolution has been well known for several weeks and it is thought to have been circulated among Arab states and some UN Security Council members. The draft reportedly calls for Israel to withdraw from the West Bank and East Jerusalem before November 2016.

American leaders have repeatedly opposed such unilateral actions as detrimental to the chances of successful bilateral Israeli-Palestinian talks. Although the United States would likely exercise its veto over such a resolution, Abed Rabbo commented, “If the Americans veto or abort the motion, this would not be the end of the process.”

Haaretz reports that PA President Mahmoud Abbas has assured US Secretary of State John Kerry that there will be quiet for at least the coming year. Abbas is quoted saying, “Kerry asked me how long the calm would hold. I told him that I’m not a fortune teller, but at least until the end of next year there will be no conflict.”

Kerry himself called for a return to Israeli-Palestinian peace talks during a reception at the State Department to mark Eid al-Adha. He said, “It is imperative that we find a way to get back to the negotiations.” Commenting on the two-state solution he said, “I still believe that’s possible, and I still believe we need to work towards it.”

Meanwhile, AP says that the Quartet (US, UN, EU and Russia) will meet in Brussels on 24 October to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for the first time since September 2013, having taken a backseat while Kerry spearheaded peace talks which ended in April.