Nabil Shaath, adviser to President Mahmoud Abbas, said that the Palestinian leadership was working towards the adoption of the Palestinian plan by the UN Security Council, to replace the US “deal of the century.”
In an interview with the Palestinian official radio station, Shaath described the US plan as a “failure”, noting that Abbas’ proposal had been highly appreciated by the international community.
The Palestinian official’s remarks came few days after Abbas presented to the Security Council a plan calling for convening an international peace conference in mid-2018, with wide international participation involving the concerned parties and regional and international players, in particular the permanent members of the Security Council and the Quartet.
According to Abbas’ proposal, the conference should result in recognizing the State of Palestine as a full member of the United Nations, in addition to mutual recognition of the State of Palestine and Israel based on the 1967 borders, and the establishment of a multilateral international mechanism to assist both sides in the negotiations to resolve all outstanding issues, including settlements, refugees, water and prisoners.
Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Palestinian leadership was working to achieve the adoption of Abbas’ plan by the major powers in the Security Council and to push Russia or France to call for an international peace conference this year in order to produce an international mechanism that would involve the United States, as well as European and Arab countries.
Meanwhile, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) welcomed Abbas’ call to the UN Security Council, stressing the need to achieve a just and comprehensive peace in the region, especially through a two-state solution based on the relevant resolutions of international legitimacy and the Arab peace initiative.
In a statement on Thursday, the OIC Secretariat called on all relevant international parties to implement the Abbas’ proposal, in particular the holding of an international peace conference with the participation of all international actors.