The Palestinian Authority emphasizes the urgent need for an immediate ceasefire in the face of the new Israeli proposal

June 1 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Palestinian Authority has insisted on the need to “urgently” declare a “complete and permanent ceasefire” in Gaza and in the face of violence orchestrated by settlers in the West Bank in its first response to the new Israeli peace proposal detailed this past Friday by the president of the United States, Joe Biden.

The plan announced yesterday by Biden – whose preparation the president attributed to Israel – consists of three phases. The first of which consists of a complete ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from populated areas of Gaza, the partial release of hostages, the return of Palestinian civilians to their homes, and an increase in humanitarian aid.

The second phase consists of a permanent end to hostilities, the exchange of Palestinian prisoners for surviving hostages, and a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. The third and final stage would consist of the beginning of the reconstruction of Gaza and the delivery of the mortal remains of the deceased hostages.

The “immediate” ceasefire requested by the Palestinian Authority clashes with the statements this Saturday by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has conditioned the cessation of hostilities to the political and military “destruction” of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.

Likewise, the leadership of the Palestinian Authority — President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Mohamed Mustafa — “underscores the need for the Israeli occupation to withdraw its forces from Gaza” and calls for the “opening and recovery of the control of all border crossings” towards the Palestinian enclave.

Finally, the Palestinian Authority insists on its historical demand that “peace, security and stability can only be achieved through a political solution based on international legitimacy and the Arab Peace Initiative”, which involves “the end to Israeli occupation and the establishment of an independent and fully sovereign Palestinian State along the borders of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital.”