Hopes of peace with Israel ‘waning’, UN told
PALESTINIAN president Mahmoud Abbas has said that hope of peace with Israel is “waning” as he addressed the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations.
Mr Abbas delivered a pessimistic assessment of diplomacy, saying a “frantic campaign to confiscate our lands” persisted in the generations-long dispute, while the military “are killing the Palestinian people in broad daylight” with impunity.
“Our confidence in achieving a peace based on justice and international law is waning, due to the Israeli occupation policies,” he said. “Do you want to kill what remains of hope in our souls?”
Israel’s military occupation of the West Bank is now in its 55th year. The last substantial round of peace talks ended in 2009, and critics say growing Israeli settlements in the West Bank and elsewhere undermine any hopes for a two-state solution.
Israel’s PM repeated on Thursday that he supports a two-state solution – but there is almost no prospect for one soon.