Abbas calls for international peace conference next year

Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Friday appealed to the United Nations for an international conference on the Middle East in 2021.

In an address to the General Assembly, Abbas asked Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to convene the meeting on the Palestinian issue “early next year” and bring in “all relevant parties.”

“The conference should have full authority to launch a genuine peace process based on international law,” Abbas told the virtual General Assembly in a recorded address, according to the AFP news agency.

“It should aim to end the occupation and grant the Palestinian people their freedom and independence in their own state along the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital and settle final-status issues, notably the refugee question,” he added.

Abbas’ comments follow the agreements that Israel signed with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain earlier this month on the normalization of ties between those countries.

“It is delusional to think that the Palestinian people could be sidelined,” the PA chairman said.

“You should all know that there can be no peace, no security, no stability or coexistence in our region without an end to the occupation and without a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian question,” he added.

Abbas has denounced the agreements Israel signed with the UAE and Bahrain, saying only an Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria can bring peace to the Middle East.

The PA has refused diplomatic efforts by US President Donald Trump, arguing that his administration is biased in favor of Israel.

Abbas has repeatedly pushed for an international conference for peace in the Middle East, aimed at bypassing the US efforts to resume talks.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)