Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki said yesterday that the Palestinians would submit their UN bid on Sept. 23, but added that they are willing to listen to other ideas in the meantime.
Envoys from the US, the EU and the “diplomatic Quartet” of the UN, the US, the EU and Russia have been holding 11th-hour talks with Palestinian and Israeli leaders in an effort to get them back into direct peace talks that stalled a year ago.
“We will see if any of them is carrying a credible offer that will allow us to look into it seriously,” Malki told foreign journalists in Ramallah. “Otherwise, on the 23rd at 12:30 [Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas] will submit the application.”
Abbas is to make a broadcast address to the Palestinian people today.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday and yesterday after holding talks with Abbas in Egypt.
Quartet envoy Tony Blair is in Jerusalem for meetings, while US envoys Dennis Ross and David Hale were to meet Abbas in Ramallah last night.
“We’ll submit our application for full membership,” Malki said. “Until then, we are open to any suggestions or ideas that could come from any side in order to renew negotiations on a firm basis with clear terms of reference, a clear timetable and clear guarantees.”
An EU statement on Wednesday quoted Ashton as saying her mission was to ensure that the Palestinians’ UN bid would ultimately lead to renewed negotiations with Israel.
“I hope that in the coming days what we’ll be able to achieve together will be something that enables the negotiations to start,” she said.
No details of her meeting yesterday with Netanyahu were immediately made public.
The US Department of State has said that Washington would “leave no stone unturned” in efforts to deflect the Palestinians from the UN path and get them and the Israelis back into negotiations.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak met Ross on Wednesday and the two discussed the Palestinian issue and other regional matters, Barak’s office said.
So far, 127 countries have recognized a Palestinian state based on the lines that existed before the 1967 Six-Day War, including Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Some hardline Israeli ministers are calling for Israel to annex chunks of the West Bank if the Palestinians go ahead with their play for UN membership.
Hardline Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman warned on Wednesday there would be “harsh and grave consequences” if the Palestinians persist with their plan.
He did not elaborate on the possible consequences.
In the past, he has called for Israel to sever all relations with Abbas’s administration should it press on with its UN bid.
Netanyahu said yesterday he would address the UN next week to set out Israel’s objections to the Palestinians’ bid for membership of the world body.
“Israel wants peace, and for the past two-and-a-half years has been attempting to conduct negotiations,” Netanyahu said at a joint press conference with Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas.
“We know that peace is dependent on recognition and security. These needs arise in light of the recent upheavals in the Middle East, which affect us,” Netanyahu said.
“The General Assembly is not a place where Israel usually gets a fair hearing,” he added. “But I think that it’s important that the Israeli prime minister attends, to bring the Israeli message to the world.”
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from