President Mahmoud Abbas met on Tuesday with Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coffini, who visited the Gaza Strip for hours.
President Abbas held talks with the Irish minister at the presidential headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
The Wafa news agency quoted Abbas as saying during the talks that the continuation of the settlement policy in the Palestinian territories "will destroy all chances of reaching a real peace based on the resolutions of international legitimacy."
Abbas called on Ireland and the rest of the European Union to recognize the Palestinian state and protect the two-state solution backed by the international community.
For his part, the Irish Foreign Minister affirmed his country´s support for Palestinian rights and the strengthening of relations between the Irish and Palestinian peoples.
Coffini said that Ireland supports the resolutions of international legitimacy in accordance with the principle of a two-state solution to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and achieve a just and comprehensive peace in the region, according to the agency.
The settlement file is the most prominent aspect of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and one of the main reasons for the cessation of the last peace negotiations between the two sides before mid-2014.
Earlier in the day, Coffini visited the Gaza Strip for several hours through the Beit Hanoun / Erez checkpoint in the northern Gaza Strip.
During the visit, the Irish minister was briefed on the projects being implemented by his country to cope with the economic situation.
Cofini said, according to a statement issued by "UNRWA" received by Xinhua News Agency, that his country is firm supporter of the Agency in providing services to Palestine refugees, stressing the importance of providing education and health care to preserve the hope, rights and dignity of the refugees here in Gaza.
"I was pleased to inform UNRWA that Ireland will make an additional donation of 2.5 million euros this year to support the delivery of key services," Coffini said, adding that Irish support this year would amount to 7.5 million euros.
Trond Jensen, Senior Deputy Director of UNRWA Operations in Gaza, said in a statement that he thanked the additional donation.
Jensen said that a visit like this one today sends a strong message of hope to the people of Gaza, especially our young students, and shows them that their future is important and that their voices are heard.
