International community key to solving Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Envoy

Palestinian Ambassador to the UK Husam Zomlot with Stephen Sackur on Hardtalk. (Screengrab BBC)
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Updated 15 June 2021
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International community key to solving Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Envoy

  • Palestinian ambassador to UK: ‘Leaving two sides to sort it out … is like leaving the wolf with the lamb’
  • With sufficient global support, ‘transformation is imminent,’ Husam Zomlot tells event attended by Arab News

LONDON: The key to solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is “a very clear message from the international community,” the Palestinian ambassador to Britain told a London think tank on Tuesday.

In a conversation hosted by Chatham House and attended by Arab News, Husam Zomlot told the audience that the Palestinians have fulfilled their part “in making sure that we enforce ourselves into the Israeli public so that apathy doesn’t continue.”

He added that the biggest factor for increasing awareness and forcing change in the region will be “what our youth do,” pointing to the intensity of the next generation’s campaigning over the last month.

Zomlot said youth campaigns “have been very intense,” adding: “Our message was delivered to every Israeli household. It has cost us a lot, a lot of bravery and heroism. I’m following these kids in Jerusalem on social media, speaking to the media with such beautiful eloquence, framing the issue. It’s hitting the Israeli public and the world.”

However, he said despite this energy and enthusiasm from youth activists, the lack of a clear message from the international community has limited the efficacy of their efforts.

“What’s missing isn’t the Palestinian readiness to stand up — we’ve proved that 100 times in the last 100 years … All the way to the Jerusalem uprising, we’ve been delivering the message. What’s missing is a very clear message from the international community,” he added.

“Leaving two sides to sort it out … is like leaving the wolf with the lamb. What we can do is to resist, but resistance on its own won’t tilt the balance. We need the force of the third party that created the situation.”

Zomlot said with sufficient international support following the latest wave of global attention, “transformation is imminent.”


Israeli forces set up checkpoint, arrest residents inside southern Syria

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Israeli forces set up checkpoint, arrest residents inside southern Syria

  • An Israeli force comprising 7 military vehicles entered Wadi Al-Raqad and established a checkpoint on the Al-Raqad bridge
  • The Syrian government has repeatedly condemned Israeli incursions into its territory, including raids, arrests, and land razing in the south

LONDON: Israeli forces conducted an incursion into the Wadi Al-Raqad area in the Daraa countryside and arrested six residents from villages in Quneitra, southern Syrian Arab Republic.

On Wednesday, an Israeli force comprising seven military vehicles entered Wadi Al-Raqad and set up a checkpoint on the Al-Raqad bridge. Additionally, six other vehicles were stationed at the Tell Abu Al-Ghithar gate, as reported by the Syrian Arab News Agency.

Israeli forces arrested six individuals from the villages of Ain Al-Abd, Kodna, and Al-Asbah in the southern Quneitra countryside, and conducted another incursion into the village of Saida Al-Golan in the area.

The Syrian government has repeatedly condemned Israeli incursions into its territory, including raids, arrests, and land razing in the south, saying that they violate the 1974 Disengagement Agreement.

Syria stresses that the presence of Israeli forces on its territory is “illegitimate” and that all Israeli measures in the region are “null and void and have no legal effect” under international law, the SANA added.