“Following the wave of violence that has hit Israel and Gaza in recent days, causing further victims, loss of life, destruction and suffering, it is the duty of every international institution, every government and every democratic conscience to act to halt the military escalation and restore the voice of politics and law,” said Piero Fassino (Italy, SOC), rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on Recent developments in Libya and the Middle East: what consequences for Europe?
Mr Fassino added: “PACE – which has always fought for peace and coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians, supporting the ‘two peoples, two states’ solution – joins the United Nations, the European Union, governments and all other multilateral and bilateral bodies in calling on the parties to the conflict:
– to immediately suspend the use of weapons: Hamas should cease firing rockets against Israeli cities and the Israeli government should refrain from any further military action;
– to stop the expropriation in East Jerusalem of housing allocated to Arab families;
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– to cease the construction of settlements in the West Bank;
– to remove obstacles to the holding of elections by the Palestinian Authority;
– Hamas to remove from its Statute those articles which do not recognise Israel’s right to exist and which call for its destruction;
– to support any initiative useful for the resumption of a negotiation process based on the reciprocal recognition of the right of the Palestinian people to have a homeland and the right of Israel to exist, in security and recognised by its neighbours.”
Tweet by PACE President Rik Daems
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
