RAMALLAH, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa said on Tuesday that Israeli policies in the Palestinian territories aim to dismantle the Palestinian presence and undermine the two-state solution.
During a joint briefing at his office in Ramallah with EU Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Suica, Mustafa said, "Israeli practices, in the Gaza Strip or the West Bank, including Jerusalem, are not merely isolated incidents, but rather a systematic and deliberate policy, aiming to close the door to an independent Palestinian state."
Mustafa emphasized that "achieving security, stability, and peace in the region is only possible through ending the Israeli occupation and establishing an independent, contiguous, and viable Palestinian state, based on international law and relevant UN resolutions, and guaranteeing the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, foremost among them the right to self-determination."
He added that the financial and economic blockade imposed by Israel poses a serious threat to the functioning of Palestinian institutions, "as Israel continues to illegally withhold Palestinian tax revenues, amounting to approximately 6 billion U.S. dollars, in addition to freezing another 5 billion dollars of Palestinian bank funds that the Israeli central bank refuses to accept."
Mustafa called on the EU to continue its role in protecting the two-state solution and supporting institutional and financial stability, and to take practical, effective, and decisive steps to halt Israeli practices and policies that violate international law and hold them accountable.
Suica affirmed the EU's continued support for Palestine, noting that settlement expansion and escalating attacks by Israeli settlers undermine these efforts.
She added that the ongoing humanitarian suffering in the Gaza Strip is unacceptable and that the EU is working extensively to end it. She emphasized the necessity of delivering humanitarian and relief aid to the strip to facilitate reconstruction and full recovery. ■
