Palestinians Look Forward to Holding Int’l Peace Conference in Early 2021

The Palestinians are pushing for holding an international peace conference in early 2021. (Reuters)
The Palestinians are pushing for holding an international peace conference in early 2021. (Reuters)
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Palestinians Look Forward to Holding Int’l Peace Conference in Early 2021

The Palestinians are pushing for holding an international peace conference in early 2021. (Reuters)
The Palestinians are pushing for holding an international peace conference in early 2021. (Reuters)

Countries supporting Palestinian Mahmoud Abbas’s initiative to hold an international peace conference have prompted local efforts to organize the meeting as soon as early 2021.

In September, Abbas had called on United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to convene an international conference in early 2021 to launch “a genuine peace process” between Israel and the Palestinians.

The UN Security Council met on Monday and supported Abbas’ proposal and the need to implement the two-state solution. China, Russia, France and Britain expressed support to resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict according to international law and resolutions, amid reservations from the United States and Israel.

Member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) Executive Committee and Fatah Central Committee Azzam al-Ahmad said the Palestinian leadership will launch a campaign addressing the public and international community to underline the need to hold the conference as proposal by Abbas.

“What took place at the Security Council is extremely significant. It was a response to everyone who tried to mislead the Palestinian, Arab and international public that the Palestinian leadership was not offering an alternative to the ‘Deal of the Century,’” said Ahmad.

The Palestinians have vehemently rejected US President Donald Trump’s peace plan, saying it is heavily biased to Israel and violated international resolutions.

The Security Council’s discussion of holding an international peace conference under the umbrella of the UN, with the participation of the permanent members and the Quartet plus, underscores the international community’s commitment to international and UN resolutions, continued Ahmad.

Palestinians want to launch an international conference attended by the Quartet (the UN, European Union, United States and Russia) and other countries to launch a multilateral mechanism to sponsor negotiations with the Israelis, based on Security Council resolution 1515, which states that Palestinian land is the occupied territories according to the 1967 borders.

In August, the Palestinian Authority informed the international Quartet of its intention to return to negotiations according to the 2002 Arab peace.



Olmert: ‘Humanitarian City’ in Rafah Would Be Concentration Camp for Palestinians

Former Israel's prime minister Ehud Olmert looks on during an interview with AFP (Agence France-Presse) in Paris on June 9, 2025. (Photo by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP)
Former Israel's prime minister Ehud Olmert looks on during an interview with AFP (Agence France-Presse) in Paris on June 9, 2025. (Photo by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP)
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Olmert: ‘Humanitarian City’ in Rafah Would Be Concentration Camp for Palestinians

Former Israel's prime minister Ehud Olmert looks on during an interview with AFP (Agence France-Presse) in Paris on June 9, 2025. (Photo by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP)
Former Israel's prime minister Ehud Olmert looks on during an interview with AFP (Agence France-Presse) in Paris on June 9, 2025. (Photo by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP)

Israel’s former prime minister Ehud Olmert said that the “humanitarian city” that Israel’s defense minister has proposed building on the ruins of Rafah would be a concentration camp, and forcing Palestinians inside would be ethnic cleansing, the Guardian reported on Sunday.

Israel was already committing war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank, Olmert told the daily, and construction of the camp would mark an escalation.

Israeli Minister of Defense, Israel Katz, has ordered the military to start drawing up operational plans for construction of the “humanitarian city” on the ruins of southern Gaza, to house initially 600,000 people and eventually the entire Palestinian population, stated the Guardian.

“It is a concentration camp. I am sorry,” Olmert told he daily, when asked about the plans laid out by Katz last week. Once inside, Palestinians would not be allowed to leave, except to go to other countries, Katz said.

The “humanitarian city” project is backed by Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Israel’s refusal to withdraw from the area Katz envisages for the camp is a sticking point in the faltering negotiations for a ceasefire deal, Israeli media have reported.