Israel blocks Ramallah meeting with Arab ministers, says Israeli official

Israel blocks Ramallah meeting with Arab ministers, says Israeli official

An Israeli official said the ministers planned to attend ‘a provocative meeting’ on promoting a Palestinian state establishment.

The Israeli official said they will not cooperate with moves aimed at harming them and their security. (AFP pic)
JERUSALEM:
Israel will not allow a planned meeting in the Palestinian administrative capital of Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, to go ahead, an Israeli official said on Saturday, after media reported that Arab ministers planning to attend had been stopped from coming.

The delegation included ministers from Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, Palestinian Authority officials said. The ministers would require Israeli consent to travel to the West Bank from Jordan.

An Israeli official said the ministers intended to take part in “a provocative meeting” to discuss promoting the establishment of a Palestinian state.

“Such a state would undoubtedly become a terrorist state in the heart of the land of Israel,” the official said. “Israel will not cooperate with such moves aimed at harming it and its security.”

A Palestinian Authority official said that the issue of whether the meeting in Ramallah would be able to go ahead was under discussion.

The move comes ahead of an international conference, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, due to be held in New York on June 17-20 to discuss the issue of Palestinian statehood.

Israel has come under increasing pressure from the United Nations and European countries which favour a two-state solution to the Israeli Palestinian conflict, under which an independent Palestinian state would exist alongside Israel.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that recognising a Palestinian state was not only a “moral duty but a political necessity”.

Stay current - Follow FMT on WhatsApp, Google news and Telegram

Subscribe to our newsletter and get news delivered to your mailbox.