PALESTINIAN Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said yesterday that the international consensus on establishing the State of Palestine must be translated into practical steps that embody the state on the ground toward ending the occupation.
He said that the world must begin thinking about imposing sanctions on Israel for its continued aggression, colonialism, occupation, and for its rejection of peace.
In his speech at the weekly Palestinian cabinet meeting in Ramallah yesterday, the Prime Minister said that there is an important international movement around the two-state solution.
He said that the world should not pay attention to the position of Netanyahu and his government that rejects the two-state solution, and should work to end the occupation, recognise the State of Palestine bilaterally, and vote for Palestine to be a member state of the United Nations.
He pointed out that the criminal Israeli killing policy is still claiming the lives of innocent civilians in the Gaza Strip, adding that the aid is very little and does not meet people’s needs.
He noted that diseases have begun to spread and that thousands of cases of hepatitis and other diseases have been recorded, while there is no suitable shelterfrom the cold weather.
Shtayyeh stated that water and electricity are still cut off, the work of communications networks is fluctuating and the international press is still prevented from reaching the Gaza Strip, as well as the Palestinian press.
The number of victims, including dead, wounded, missing persons and detainees, has reached about 100,000, 70% of whom are children, women, and the elderly.
In the West Bank, he said that Israel continues to kill Palestinian people especially in the camps, with the number of Palestinians killed since the beginning of last year now standing at about 523, including 22 who were killed by gangs of colonialists.
He pointed out that during the aggression, Israeli colonists established 18 colonial outposts, at least 50,000 dunums of land were seized, 669 facilities were demolished, 1,323 demolition notices were delivered, 22,000 trees were uprooted, and there are 700 military checkpoints in the West Bank.
Also, 49 schools are threatened with total or partial demolition and more than 6,000 civilians have been detained.
The Prime Minister stressed that the situation in Gaza and the West Bank must stop, and the Israeli killing and aggression against the Palestinian people must stop.
