President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday blamed Israel for blocking the political process due to its failure to comply with the agreements signed under international sponsorship.
President Abbas, upon receiving in Ramallah the Governor-General of Australia, General David Hurley, indicated that Israel continues settlement activities and the seizure of Palestinian land, and seeks to change the character of the city of Jerusalem, "which effectively undermines the two-state solution supported by the international community."
President Abbas reaffirmed the official Palestinian position rejecting any attempts to resolve the Palestinian issue away from international legitimacy decisions.
He said that "the decisions taken by the American administration in a biased and supportive of the occupation and contrary to international law, require the presence of a multilateral international mechanism to sponsor any future negotiations ending the Israeli occupation."
He also stressed the need for the international community to intervene to pressure the Israeli government to allow legislative and presidential elections to take place inside occupied Jerusalem and the rest of the Palestinian territories in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, so that we can hold them as soon as possible.
The agency quoted the Governor-General of Australia as his country´s support for peace and stability in the Middle East region.
