“The international community must base its work on the Arab Peace Initiative, the land-for-peace principle, and relevant Security Council resolutions to facilitate the settlement of the question of Palestine with a view to establishing the State of Palestine with full sovereignty, on the basis of the 1967 border, and with East Jerusalem as its capital,” Ma Zhaoxu, China’s permanent representative to the United Nations, told the Security Council.
Any new initiative must comply with the above-mentioned basic international norms, he said. “Only by so doing can the solution be fair and durable, and can it be broadly accepted by the international community.”
It is necessary to effectively implement Security Council Resolution 2334, which concerns Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory, said Ma.
“The party concerned must immediately cease all settlement activities in the occupied territory, cease the demolition of Palestinian houses, cease the destruction of Palestinian property and must take measures to prevent violence against civilians.”
It is imperative to immediately cease all legal actions or unilateral measures toward legitimizing settlements, and take practical measures to remove their impact, he added.
The Chinese ambassador asked for unity of the international community to push for the early relaunching of Palestinian-Israeli peace talks.
It is of utmost importance to refrain from actions that might worsen the situation or measures that might jeopardize trust so as to create the necessary conditions for resuming dialogue, he said.
Parties that have strong influence in the Middle East must play a constructive role and refrain from unilateral actions that might escalate tensions in the region. Intra-Palestinian reconciliation must be actively facilitated, he said.
