by IANS |
Ramallah, May 25 (IANS) Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has met with European Union (EU) parliament President Roberta Metsola on the ongoing escalating conflicts between Palestine and Israel.
The meeting took place on Tuesday.
Metsola arrived in Israel on Monday and held meetings at the Israeli Knesset, or parliament, amid tension between Israel and the Palestinians that has been flaring over the past few weeks, Xinhua news agency reported.
The official Palestinian news agency (WAFA) reported that President Abbas briefed the EU Parliament President on the ongoing "Israeli assaults and killings" and settlement expansion as well as the Israeli measures in east Jerusalem.
The endless and escalating Israeli measures against the Palestinian people "violate international resolutions and international law...The unilateral Israeli measures in Jerusalem and the entire Palestinian territories are mounting to acts of ethnic cleansing and racial discrimination," the Palestinian President was quoted by WAFA as telling Metsola.
Abbas praised the efforts made by the European Parliament, the EU, and its member states to support the political process based on international legitimacy and international law, to end the Israeli occupation.
The EU Parliament President told the Palestinian President that the EU supports the political process in accordance with the two-state solution based on the international resolutions, international law and rejection of Israeli settlements.
Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians stopped in March 2014.
The Palestinians want to establish an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel on the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel in 1967, including the entire West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital.