Quds News Network

United Nations (QNN)- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday rejected Trump's Middle East plan and urged the UN Security Council to help the Palestinians launch a new negotiation effort. In his speech addressing the UN Security Council, Abbas slammed the US plan, which gave Israelis almost everything they wanted and left the Palestinians with what he described as “islands” of territory and a country that looked on a map like “Swiss cheese”. “We call on ending the occupation and on establishing our Palestinian state. Our people will not surrender and we will not surrender. We will continue to demand our rights. If you give us our rights then we will stand with you,” Abbas told the 15-nation chamber. “I am ready to start negotiations, as I was ready always, if we have a partner in Israel ready for peace, ready for negotiations under the sponsorship of the international Quartet and on the basis of internationally agreed-upon parameters.” Abbas assured that Trump's plan "legitimizes settlements and annexation of Palestinian land," as well as bolsters "the apartheid regime." "Peace between the Israelis and Palestinians is still possible," he said, but said that the U.S. "cannot be the sole mediator." "We have tried but we cannot accept it again," he said. Abbas called for the expansion of the Middle East Quartet. “I call on the international Quartet and I call on the members of the UN Security Council to hold an international conference for peace,” said Abbas. Still, the Palestinians did not appear to have enough support in the council to put a resolution they had backed, an original version of which criticized Israeli land grabs and the US plan, up for a vote on Tuesday. “We will not resort to violence or terrorism,” said Abbas. “No matter how strong the attack against us is, we believe in peace. We believe in combatting violence and therefore we will not resort to violence. We are willing to cooperate with any country against terrorism and violence.” On the other hand, Israeli UN Ambassador Danny Danon, who spoke shortly after Abbas, claimed that Abbas "refuses to negotiate. He is not interested in finding a realistic solution to the conflict."

Abbas: We call on ending occupation and we believe in peace

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