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The Palestinian Authority said it will attend a United Nations conference next week, hoping to revive a long-stalled peace process.
This authority, the internationally recognized representative of the Palestinians, faces a difficult task. It is unpopular among the population and is weakened by years of internal Palestinian divisions and the conflict with Israel.
However, Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa told reporters in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah on Thursday that the gathering of diplomats and world leaders in New York next week provides the appropriate venue to revive peace efforts.
"We hope this will be a new beginning for the resumption of a serious process, with deadlines and justice," he said.
The conference, which is set to begin on Tuesday, June 17, aims to renew support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. While any declaration is expected to be largely symbolic, Mustafa said a major show of international support would underscore the importance of the authority.
"We still want to see this lead to bilateral negotiations between us and Israel that would resolve the outstanding issues," he added.
The last round of genuine peace talks was held more than a decade ago and the chances of talks resuming are slim, especially as the war in Gaza continues. The Israeli government is dominated by ultranationalists who oppose Palestinian independence.
The Palestinian Authority administers several small areas in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and is attempting to become a player in post-war Gaza.
Hamas - the Palestinian group designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union - had overthrown the Palestinian Authority when it took control of Gaza in 2007.
Ahead of the UN conference, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has written a letter to French President Emmanuel Macron calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, the implementation of an Arab reconstruction plan and for a Palestinian government to take control of the Gaza Strip after the war.
In the letter, he condemned the October 7, 2023 attack carried out by Hamas on Israel, which sparked the war in Gaza, and Abbas also called for the release of all hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza.
The UN has said the conference aims to restore focus to the two-state solution, where the state of Israel and a Palestinian state would exist side by side.
Mustafa said that progress in this direction should start with a ceasefire in Gaza.
The Palestinians seek to establish their own state in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem - areas that Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East War./ REL
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