FM co-chairs Union for Mediterranean regional forum, 1st and final add


The foreign minister said: “This year has already been the bloodiest year for Palestinians in the West Bank for over a decade even before October 7. Yesterday, 4 Palestinians kids, Ahmad Abu Al Haija, Mahmoud Abu Al Haija, Ammar Al Wafa 14 year old, Mohammad Al Farhan 15 year old were killed. Bringing the total of Palestinians killed since October 7 on the West Bank to 236 children, around 8 of them killed by settlers. This year as I said has been the bloodiest and we have to do everything we can to stop this from continuing.”

He underlined that settlers terrorism on Palestine civilians in the West Bank and the raging aggression on Gaza will not bring security to Israel, and that only a just and lasting peace will. The two-state solution, he noted, is the only path to this just and lasting peace. “We must all pursue it, with determination, with vigor and with urgency. Middle East peace is a regional, European and global interest. Achieving it is in the interest of us all.”

“Going forwards requires that we
first: Work on ending this war immediately, Meeting the urgent humanitarian needs of Gazans, and immediately preparing for the reconstruction of all of Gaza, its south and its north, with a view to starting this reconstruction in parallel with the launching of a time-lined plan to implement the two-state solution. There cannot be a Gaza alone approach,” he stated.

On Europe’s role in the issue, Safadi said: “We are ready to work with our European partners to immediately start preparing for this plan, and designing mechanisms to implement it. The two-state solution cannot remain a talking point, while Israeli measures to undermine it continue unabated. We must commit, together, along with other partners, specially the United States, to end this conflict once for all, for the sake of the Palestinian people, and the sake of Israeli people.”

He urged putting pressure on the Israeli government to end its illegal and destructive occupation that denies all people of the region, Palestinians and Israelis and all of
other people their right to the peace they need and they deserve.

“The peace we seek is a peace for all. By opting for peace we are not taking sides. By opting for peace we are taking the side of the right of the Palestinian people and Israeli people to live in peace. The peace we seek is a peace that must fulfill Palestinians’ right to freedom and statehood, and must address Israel’s legitimate concerns. It is a peace that will bring security to both Palestinians and Israelis; that will ensure dignity, liberty and opportunity for both people; that will recognize the humanity of both peoples; that will end fear and hate; that will restore hope; that will guarantee that Palestinians and Israelis live side by side, in peace and with opportunity, in a region where all are accepted, all are safe, and all are cooperating,” the minister underscored.

Speaking on the UfM’s role, Safadi stated: “Our Union has a major role to play in this effort. The catastrophe of the day denies it the conditions it needs to impleme
nt its mission. But its moment must, and will, come. And when it comes we must be ready. Our Union must be preserved and strengthened as an affirmation of our partnership, as a testimony to our interconnectedness, and as an expression of our shared values and shared objectives for peace, for security, and for dignity for all.”

“Our work for implementing the two state-solution, the only path to peace and security, must begin now. It starts with ensuring an end of this brutal aggression, end of all the killing, end of all the agony, and end of all the pain and the despair that this war is bringing to 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza,” he concluded.

Source: Jordan News Agency