Russia proposes convening a ministerial meeting of the Middle East quartet (Russia, the US, EU and UN) in the framework of the UN General Assembly in September, Anna Evstigneeva, Russia's deputy permanent representative to the world organization, said on Monday, speaking at a Security Council meeting.
"We are in favor of restarting direct Palestinian-Israeli negotiations leading to the fulfillment of legitimate Palestinian aspirations for an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital and providing understandable national security concerns for Israelis," she said. - "We assign a special role in facilitating this task to the Middle East quartet, which remains the only internationally recognized mechanism to accompany a Palestinian-Israeli settlement."
"We call on our quartet colleagues to respond positively to our initiative to hold a ministerial meeting in New York in September on the margins of the UNGA high-level week, as well as consultations in an expanded format with the participation of regional states," the diplomat said. According to Evstigneeva, there is still a risk that clashes in the border areas of the Gaza Strip could escalate into full-scale hostilities.
"The threat of forced eviction of several Arab families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem remains. On August 2, the Israeli Supreme court postponed the hearing of the case indefinitely, which could lead to another round of escalation," Evstigneeva pointed out. She recalled that Israel's illegal settlement activity, as well as expropriation of land and property in the occupied territories, violates international law. "Such actions significantly impede international efforts to resume direct Palestinian-Israeli negotiations as soon as possible in order to achieve a comprehensive settlement of final status issues," the deputy permanent representative stressed.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
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Based on materials from TASS