LOC22:06
19:06 GMT
NEW YORK, Feb 20 (KUNA) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has briefed the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) about a new plan for Middle East peace.
"Driven by our conviction in a just, lasting and comprehensive peace, ... I present to this august Council a peace plan that addresses the core problems that have undermined peace efforts across the decades," President Abbas said in speech at the UNSC.
He elaborated that the plan called for an international peace conference by mid 2018 to discuss a peace plan that is based on international resolutions.
The outcomes of the conference must include, the acceptance of the State of Palestine as a full member state at the UN, mutual recognition of statehood between Palestine and Israel on the borders of 1967, he pointed out.
He went on to say that the conferees had to form a multilateral international mechanism that aids the two sides in negotiations to solve all permanent status issues according to the Oslo Accords, and provide guarantees for mutual implementation of what is agreed upon within a specified period of time.
President Abbas also unveiled that the plan included refraining from all unilateral moves during negotiations, especially those which affect the results of the final solution, most importantly settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories in 1967, including East Jerusalem and freezing of the decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and stopping the embassy transfer to Jerusalem.
The peace plan stipulates the implementation the international law and relevant international resolutions, including Security Council resolution 242, 338 and 2334, the Arab peace initiative and the signed agreements, he said.
The president affirmed the two-state solution as a foundation for peace negotiations, which means a State of Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital that lives side by side with Israel in peace and security on the borders of June 4, 1967.
He rejected interim solutions and a state with temporary borders and approved a minor land swap, which is equal in value and quantity, with the approval of the two sides.
He noted that plan envisages East Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine, a city that will be open to the followers of the three monotheistic religions, a guarantee for the security of the two states without undermining the sovereignty of either through appointing a third international party, a just and agreed upon solution for the issue of Palestinian refugees on the basis of resolution 194.
He suggested that a referendum would be held to vote on the agreements to be reached with Israel and expressed hope that the Security Council will be responsive to his peace vision.
"We are ready to undertake the longest journeys to the farthest places in the world in order to realize our rights. But we are not ready to move one inch if anyone wants us to forsake these rights," he concluded. (end)
asf.ibi