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U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken meets with UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed at the State Department in Washington, U.S., February 14, 2023. (Reuters)
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
The United States has asked the UAE to delay submitting to the UN Security Council on Monday a draft resolution calling for Israel to immediately halt all its settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories, as Washington tries to broker a deal between the two parties, Axios reported. U.S. and Israeli officials were quoted on Sunday.
U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken began working on solutions to avoid a U.N. Security Council vote when he met with UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed in Washington last week, Axios reported, citing sources with direct knowledge of the issue.
“The Secretary of State and the Secretary of Foreign Affairs discussed recent regional developments, such as the need for Israelis and Palestinians to take urgent steps to prevent further escalation of violence and restore calm,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said on February 14.
Blinken then spoke to Emirates FM over the weekend and “asked for more time to reach an agreement before the UAE moves forward with the New York resolution,” Axios reported, citing a source familiar with the matter.
The top U.S. diplomat then spoke with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday, according to the State Department. He “reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to a negotiated two-state solution and opposed policies that endangered its viability.”
He also stressed to both parties that “the Israelis and the Palestinians urgently need to take steps to restore calm, and we strongly oppose unilateral measures that will further increase tension.”
The United Arab Emirates told the United Nations Security Council on Sunday that it would not vote on Monday on a draft resolution condemning and calling for an end to Israeli settlement activity in the Palestinian territories, Reuters reported, citing a note the UAE sent to its Security Council counterparts.
“Given the active talks between the two parties, we are now working on a draft PRST that will achieve consensus…Therefore, there will be no vote on the draft resolution on Monday,” the note said, according to Reuters. Part of the language will be taken from the draft resolution.”
The flurry of diplomatic efforts comes on the heels of the Netanyahu government’s recent approval of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, and a week before announcing the construction of new settlements among those already established. House plans.
Reuters quoted the note as reporting that the United Arab Emirates would reaffirm the illegality of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories and condemn any annexation attempts.
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