Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Minister Riyad al-Maliki Monday evening stressed the need to consolidate international efforts to confront Israeli settler-colonialism.
Speaking during a joint press conference with his Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani in Ramallah, al-Maliki underscored the need to take practical steps to confront Israel’s regime of settler-colonialism, apartheid and military occupation against the indigenous Palestinian people and bring the crimes committed by the Israeli fascist government to an end.
Commenting on the Israeli government’s consensus platform, al-Maliki said that it advocates crimes against the Palestinian people and leadership, including extrajudicial killings, colonial settlement expansion, attempts to alter the historic status quo in Jerusalem, arbitrary detentions in addition to other racist policies, including against Palestinians in Israeli imprisonment.
Such a consensus platform, al-Maliki added, is translated into action on the ground on a daily basis, including as manifested in the killing of 84 Palestinians, including 15 children, since the beginning of 2023, while reiterating that the policies pursued by the Israeli coalition government would only lead to a further deterioration of the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, particularly in Jerusalem.
He added that it was not acceptable for any international actor to claim that they were taken by surprise by the deteriorating situation or by any crime perpetrated by Israel and that it was no voicing international concern over such crimes was not sufficient to deter the occupation authorities from proceeding with such crimes.
Highlighting Palestinian-Italian relations, the top Palestinian diplomat said that Palestine has strong bilateral relations with Italy and that efforts were underway to further strengthen these relations through convening the Palestinian-Italian Joint Ministerial Committee and holding consultative meetings between the foreign ministries of both countries.
He expressed his gratitude to the Italian government for its ongoing support to the Palestinian people, including contribution to the United Nations agency responsible for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) and diplomatic support at international forums.
He also thanked Italy for its position in support of the two-state solution and in rejection of Israeli violations as well as for urging the Israeli government to halt its state terrorism against Palestinians.
He called on Italy to reconsider its vote at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), UN special committees and other international organizations in favor of the State of Palestine and the inalienable national rights of the Palestinian people.
Tajani stressed his country’s unwavering position in support of the two-state solution and in rejection of Israeli colonial settlement construction as well as its commitment to the consolidation of Palestinian institutions, including police capacity building and training of diplomats.
Source: Palestine news & Information Agency