Compel Israel to freeze settlements: FM tells UN

Paris: Foreign Minister H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani called on the international community to compel Israel to implement the international legitimacy and the Arab peace initiative, which includes the establishment of a Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem. The Minister stressed the need to solve the Palestinian refugee issue, and  called on the UN Security Council to ask Israel to immediately stop the construction of colonial settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
In a speech at the International Ministerial Conference on the Middle East Peace Process in Paris, the Foreign Minister expressed his regret over Israel's unwillingness to meet the requirements of peace process, noting that Israel made one obstacle after another through its continued aggression on the Palestinian people.
The Foreign Minister also saluted the steadfastness of the Palestinian people in light of the continued failure of the UN organisation, especially the Security Council, to protect and restore their legitimate rights, adding that Israel has turned the occupation into a permanent racial separation system that is rejected in the twenty-first century, and warned of the risks of its promotion and dissemination, a matter that would lead to opening the door to endemic conflicts in the region and provide pretexts and opportunities to create states based on ethnicity and religion.
The Foreign Minister said that peace must be founded on a just, comprehensive and lasting settlement, which requires more than ever before the international community to take practical measures to ensure Israel's compliance with the will of the international community in the implementation of the international legitimacy, the principles of international law, and relevant UN resolutions, as well as Madrid decisions, Oslo agreements, the Arab peace initiative and the principle of two-state solution. He stressed that all these documents are the basic references for the peace process.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani reiterated the firm position of the State of Qatar towards peace.
The Foreign Minister added: "Our position in the State of Qatar vis-a-vis the peace process is the same as the Arab position which is committed to international legitimacy resolutions and the Arab peace initiative for 2002, which includes the establishment of a Palestinian state based on the 4 June 1967 borders, with its capital in East Jerusalem, and resolving the Palestinian refugee issue on the basis of the provisions of international law and international legitimacy resolutions, especially resolution 194."    
He warned that the absence of peace or delay to achieve it will only further complicate the crisis, will bring undesired consequences that are unpredictable, and will have implications for all the peoples of the region and the world.
"It is unrealistic to continue the occupation and the denial of the rights of the Palestinian people and the building of settlements on the lands of others," HE the Foreign Minister said.  He called on the UN Security Council to compel Israel to implement resolution 2334 which demanded the immediate cessation of the construction of colonial settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, as well as issue a decision demanding Israel to dismantle hundreds of illegal settlements that violate the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention and international law, and threaten the essence of the rule of the Palestinian state on their national territory.
"If we do not create a mechanism for the implementation of the recent Security Council resolution, then it will be added to a series of UN resolutions which Israel continued to defy."
He stressed on the need to find a new multilateral follow-up mechanism for the implementation of what is agreed upon in the final status issues, and ending the Israeli occupation and establishing full independent and sovereign State of Palestine, with its capital in East Jerusalem, on the 4 June 1967 borders.
The Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani held yesterday meetings on the sidelines of the international ministerial conference on the Middle East peace process.
He met separately with Libyan Foreign Minister Muhammad Al Tahir Siala, Ireland's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Charles Flanagan and the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov.
Talks during the meetings dealt with a number of regional and international topics of common interest.
He also met with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed Al Jubeir and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on the sidelines of the Middle East peace conference in Paris.
The meeting exchanged views on a number of regional and international issues of common concern, especially the Syrian issue and the need for a common strategy.