France Welcomes Findings of Quartet Report on Settlements, Violence

Paris, 26 Ramadan 1437/02 July 2016 (MINA) – French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said in a statement Friday that his government welcomed the publication of the latest Quartet report on the Middle East peace process and he said France “shared the conclusions” of the report on the danger of Israeli settlments and violence.

“This report underelines notably the destructive impact of (Israeli) settlements and of violence which threaten the two-state solution,” Ayrault declared.

Israel has embarked for several years on a large programme of settlement-building and expansion in occupied Arab territories in the West Bank and Jerusalem, areas that are designated to form a future Palestinian State, projected to live in peace and security beside Israel.

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The settlement building has been strongly criticised by France, the Quartet and other countries and institutions and has been labeled “illegal” by international bodies like the International Court of Justice.

Nonetheless, Israel has chosen to ignore all demands it halt what Palestinians have called “a land grab”, and this issue has been one of the main obstacles to progress in the moribund peace negotiations which France is seeking to revive.

“The two-state solution is, for France as it is for all the international community, the only one possible,” the French Foreign Minister was quoted by WAM aa saying.

France held an international ministerial meeting here on June 3 to try to garner support for a framework to get Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table. Thirty participants from the UN Security Council, the Arab League, the Quartet, the UN Indonesia and other countries and bodies gathered to discuss a timetable and a framework likely to help the peace process.

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Israel categorically rejected the French initiative and said it would only speak to the Palestinians through direct dialogue.

On France’s peace effforts, Ayrault said that Paris “will continue to work closely in this direction with members of the Quartet and all partners in order to implement the recommendations of the (Quartet) report and to prepare a peace conference envisaged before the end of the year.” (T/R07/R01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)