Middle East Monitor / January 13, 2021
The Palestinian Authority (PA) yesterday welcomed the Arab-EU ministerial meeting on the Palestinian issue, PA’s Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki told Palestinian official radio.
The meeting included Germany, France, Egypt and Jordan and was held on Monday and discussed the Palestinian cause and reaching a solution to bring an end to the Israeli occupation.
“We are in contact with the Munich Group in order to fill in the space left by the International Quartet, as well as due to the absence of a political horizon for the solution of the Palestinian cause based on the resolutions of international legitimacy,” Al-Maliki said.
The absence of the International Quarter would have “big political consequences” on the peace process, he added, stressing that the Arab and European sides should “intensify” their efforts in order to resume peace talks that stem from international reference.
Al-Maliki went on to highlight the importance of discussing the Middle East, mainly the Palestinian cause, during the open session of the Security Council which is set to be held on 26 January.
This meeting would be “exceptional” because, according to Al-Maliki, it would be chaired by Tunisia, which would highlight the importance of the Palestinian cause and the issue of settlement, in addition to the other Israeli violations.
Al-Maliki also expected that the meeting would send positive signals towards reviving the political process because it comes after the start of the induction of the new US administration led by President-elect Joe Biden.
