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Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Israel took some "genuinely Palestinian lands" mainly through the "use of military force." Speaking at the Russian Energy Week forum in Moscow, Putin said the Palestinian problem is "in the heart of everyone who professes Islam, and they perceive it all as a manifestation of injustice, elevated to an unthinkable degree." "The Palestinian issue is at the heart of every person in this region. Yes, I believe that in the heart of everyone who professes Islam... Everything that is happening – not only now, but for decades – is perceived as a...

Russian President Vladimir Putin made his first comments on the recent attack by Hamas on Israel during talks in Moscow with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Sudani on Oct. 10. During the meeting, which was filmed by Russian state-owned media, Putin claimed that the situation was "a clear example of the failure of U.S. policy in the Middle East." Putin alleged that the U.S. has not taken into account "the fundamental interests of the Palestinian people," adding that it is necessary to create an "independent sovereign Palestinian state."This requires the implementation of "the decisions of the UN Security Council" on the...

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that talks on a two-state solution that provided for the peaceful co-existence of Israel and the Palestinians were the only way forward once hostilities had ended. Lavrov was speaking at a news conference in Moscow alongside Ahmed Aboul Gheit, chief of the Arab League. Gheit said there would be more wars unless Israel changed its stance on the Palestinians.

China on Monday pushed back calls to condemn Palestine and stressed the way out of conflict was the two-state solution. “China always stands with justice and fairness. China is a friend of both Palestine and Israel and sincerely wishes the two sides can co-exist peacefully,” said Mao Ning, spokeswoman for China’s Foreign Ministry. She was responding to “some voices pressuring China to condemn Palestine,” Beijing-based daily Global Times reported.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov emphasized on Monday that a two-state solution, aimed at facilitating peaceful coexistence between Israel and the Palestinians, remains the sole viable path once hostilities subside. Lavrov conveyed this during a press conference held in Moscow, where he was joined by Ahmed Abul Gate, the head of the Arab League. Gate warned of potential future conflicts should Israel not reconsider its stance towards the Palestinians. Notably, Beijing has also expressed its support for a two-state resolution. Earlier, a spokesperson from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, in response to inquiries about the Middle East situation, reaffirmed China's opposition...

The Biden administration will soon establish a new position aimed at expanding the Abraham Accords, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday, while also promising that Washington would continue to push back against settlement building or other activities that could endanger a two-state solution with the Palestinians. The idea for a point person tasked with shepherding normalisation between Israel and its Arab neighbours has reportedly been in the works for the past several months. The announcement comes as the Biden administration has begun to prioritise brokering a diplomatic agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia. “Israel’s further integration in...

“I have wanted to share with you today the five axes on which Egypt’s vision to face current challenges is based to put our region on the road of sustainable and comprehensive stability,” the president said. Arab’s top issue The first axis affirms the importance of reaching a “fair, comprehensive and ultimate” solution to the Palestinian issue on the basis of the two-state solution based on the relevant international resolutions, El-Sisi said. ... Democracy, human rights Second, El-Sisi affirmed the importance of building societies on the foundations of democracy, citizenship, equality, respect for human rights, renouncement of extremist ideologies and...

In a time when many Americans are struggling to make ends meet, President Joe Biden is ensuring that terrorist-sponsoring regimes stay well-funded. Biden made a commitment to provide hundeds of millions in taxpayer dollars to the Palestinians at a meeting with Palestinian authority leader Mahmoud Abbas on his Israel trip while reaffirming his commitment to the “two-state solution.” “Now, as president of the United States, my commitment to that goal of a two-state solution has not changed in all these years,” he said. “Two states along the 1967 lines were mutually agreed. The swaps remain the best way to achieve...

The House on Friday approved a resolution supporting a two-state solution to the Israeli and Palestinian conflict, recording opposition to any peace plan put forth by the Trump administration that doesn’t expressly call for an independent Palestinian state living side-by-side with a Jewish state of Israel. Only 5 Republicans backed the measure in the 226-183 vote, though 11 GOP lawmakers had joined a bipartisan amendment reaffirming U.S. commitments to providing military aid to Israel that was added to the bill.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren has threatened that as president she would consider cutting off U.S. aid to Israel if the country moves against a two-state solution, but last year, she condemned President Trump for cutting off aid to intransigent Palestinians. The Democratic front-runner said regarding aid to Israel, "Right now, Netanyahu says he is going to take Israel in a direction of increasing settlements. That does not move us toward a two-state solution." She added, "It is the official policy of the United States of America to support a two-state solution, and if Israel is moving in the opposite direction, then...

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu skillfully “played” US President Donald Trump by plying him with inaccurate information, former secretary of state Rex Tillerson said. Netanyahu, who is fighting for his political life after close elections, was “a bit Machiavellian” and would share “misinformation” with the United States, according to Trump’s former top diplomat. […] “They did that with the president on a couple of occasions, to persuade him that ‘We’re the good guys, they’re the bad guys.’ We later exposed it to the president so he understood, ‘You’ve been played,’” Tillerson said, according to the newspaper. […] Tillerson said he...

The European Union formally condemned the demolition of illegal Arab apartment buildings near Israel’s security barrier separating Jerusalem from Palestinian Authority-controlled areas, and demanded Israel halt its enforcement of demolition orders. In a statement issued Monday afternoon, the European Union’s foreign affairs department said the demolitions undermine the “viability of the two-state solution”. “Israeli authorities have proceeded with the demolition of 10 Palestinian buildings, containing some 70 apartments, in Wadi al Hummus, part of Sur Baher neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem. The majority of the buildings are located in Area A and B of the West Bank where, according to...

The EU just de facto ignored Hungary’s veto on a statement on Israel, prompting questions on how it makes foreign policy decisions. Hungary objected to the EU statement at the UN Security Council (UNSC) in New York at the last minute on Monday (29 April). But Finland read it out anyway at the UNSC meeting, in a game of protocol niceties laced with irritation. The Finnish ambassador to the UN, Kai Sauer, said: “I have the honor to speak on behalf of …” the 27 EU countries which he listed, omitting Hungary. But his subsequent statement used language that made...

Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) returned from a Middle East tour saying that he saw no alternative to the Israeli-Palestinian Arab conflict other than the two-state solution, JTA reported Wednesday. “I would say I don’t know what the alternative is other than a two-state solution,” Romney was quoted as having said on Tuesday in his first meeting with reporters since returning from the region last week. “No one articulated to us anywhere in the region an idea or a proposal for something other than a two-state solution,” added Romney, who has just assumed the chairmanship of the Middle East subcommittee in...

I have been a student of Islam for five+ years because I wanted to know what motivates so called "Islamist" or "Radical" Muslims against Jews, Israel and the West. I now understand. The short article below sets out the argument why "Land For Peace" is simply impossible under Islam, owing to Koran Sura 2, Verse 191 — and it is for this reason (and Western and Israeli diplomats and negotiators' ignorance of it) that it has been, is, and will be impossible for Muslim Palestinians to make peace with Israel. This Palestinian position has been confirmed by the top Palestinian...

Palestinians’ ultimate version of the two-state solution is two Palestinian majority states from river to sea, in addition to Jordan, which has its own majority Palestinian population Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday took over as chairman of the United Nations’ Group of 77 and China, a coalition of 134 developing nations which often votes in unison. He could only do so because of the UN’s complicity in treating Palestine as if it were an actual state. Several years ago, Palestine was designated a non-member observer state. Last year, it was accorded additional rights and privileges to participate in...

Eight European Union member states on Tuesday warned that US President Donald Trump’s so-called “Deal of the Century” would fail unless it is based on the internationally agreed parameters for a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Arab conflict. The statement by France, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany and Italy followed a UN Security Council meeting on the Middle East in which US Ambassador Nikki Haley discussed the peace plan being prepared by the Trump administration. “We, the European Union members of the Council, would like to reiterate once more and emphasize the EU’s strong continued commitment to...

Australia has decided to formally recognize west Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, but won’t move its embassy until there’s a peace settlement between Israel and the Palestinians, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced Saturday. Morrison said in a speech that Australia would recognize east Jerusalem as Palestine’s capital only after a settlement has been reached on a two-state solution. The Australian Embassy won’t be moved from Tel Aviv until such a time, he said. While the embassy move is delayed, Morrison said his government would establish a defense and trade office in Jerusalem and would also start looking for an appropriate site...

Eight European countries at the United Nations, including five Security Council members, on Thursday called on Israel to reverse its decision to demolish the illegal Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar, AFP reported. Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Belgium, Poland and the Netherlands warned that the demolition of the village “would severely threaten the viability of the two-state solution”. “We therefore call upon the Israeli authorities to reconsider their decision to demolish Khan al-Ahmar,” the countries said in a joint statement released ahead of a council meeting on the Middle East. Khan al-Ahmar was built in the 1990s on land belonging...

The United States’ decision to close the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) office in Washington will make it harder to reach a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, a spokeswoman for the German foreign ministry said on Friday. […] The U.S. administration on Monday said the PLO’s office in Washington would be closed out of concern about Palestinian attempts to prompt an International Criminal Court investigation of Israel. …