ABU DHABI // The President Sheikh Khalifa has called on the international community to increase pressure on Israel to force it to halt its aggression against Palestinians.
His comments came in his annual message to the chairman of the United Nations’ Committee on Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People to mark International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, which takes place on Saturday.
Sheikh Khalifa expressed his solidarity with Palestinians and asked for them to be provided with political, economic and developmental assistance to help them gain freedom and independence.
The President also condemned strongly the dangerous, large-scale escalation committed by Israel as an “occupying force” in the Palestinian Territories, particularly in East Jerusalem, reported state news agency WAM.
He said Israel had desecrated the Al Aqsa Mosque and its facilities, shown aggression against Palestinian worshippers by preventing them from practising their religious rituals, built illegal settlements and continued its inhumane siege of the Gaza Strip.
The President demanded that the UN take necessary measures to provide protection for the Palestinian people.
He said: “The just, comprehensive and lasting settlement of the Palestinian cause will only be achieved through withdrawal of Israel from all Palestinian lands it has occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, and implementation of the two-state solution in accordance with the international legitimacy resolutions, principles of the peace road map and the Arab Peace Initiative.”
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