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| Palestine sets date for UN statehood bid |
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The Palestinian resistance movement of Hamas and Fatah agreed to make the application after signing a unity deal in May, Press TV reported. However, the plan has been opposed by the United States, Israel and some of their Western allies. Washington has promised to veto any vote for the recognition. More than 100 countries have so far officially recognized Palestine as a sovereign state based on the 1967 borders, the boundaries that existed before Israel captured and annexed East al-Quds (Jerusalem), the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The UN vote on an independent Palestinian state will boost the principle of the two-state solution with Israel, Abbas said in remarks published Saturday, Xinhua reported. "Going to the UN doesn't contradict with the core of the peace process; it is not a unilateral measure that aims at isolating Israel," the official Palestinian news agency quoted Abbas as saying. The Palestinian decision to ask the UN General Assembly to vote on the establishment of a state next month "came as a result of the Israeli refusal of all attempts to start real, serious negotiations to end the occupation," Abbas told members of his Fatah party during a factional meeting. U.S.-brokered peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians were halted in 2010 over differences on the resumption of settlement building in the West Bank, which Israel occupied in 1967. Saeb Erekat, a senior Palestinian peace negotiator, said that the international support is needed to limit construction plans by the Israeli government. Israel has recently approved new housing projects in Jewish settlements built on occupied lands in East Jerusalem, which has sparked mass criticism from the Palestinians. Israel army plants new mines along Syria border Israel's army is planting new land mines along its border with Syria in an attempt to dissuade protesters from rushing into the Golan Heights, a military magazine reported Friday. According to AP, the preparations come as part of Israel's beefed-up measures ahead of rallies that Palestinians are planning to hold in September, the magazine Mahaneh reported. Israel came under heavy international criticism when its troops opened fire on Syrians and Palestinians who broke through the fenced border into the Golan Heights during a June 5 demonstration. Around 20 protesters were killed. Israel worries that the planned September demonstrations in the West Bank could also see a new attempt to breach the Golan frontier. The army decided to go ahead with the move after older mines failed to detonate when the Syrians crossed in June, the magazine reported. The mountainous plateau is heavily sown with minefields, which are marked. Military officials have said they are also preparing non-lethal methods for controlling any Golan protests. “The activities are intended to thicken landed mines and strengthen obstacles,” said Maj. Ariel Iluz, according to the magazine. “Combined with our military forces and snipers, these are supposed to delay or even prevent a lot of people from crossing the border,” Iluz said. The June demonstrators were protesting Israel's occupation of the Golan Heights, a territory it seized in the 1967 Mideast war and later annexed. The international community does not recognize its annexation. The magazine did not say how many mines the army's engineering corps have planted so far, only saying the operation had been continuing for several weeks. An army spokesman was not available for comment. The magazine reported that the military was taking other measures, including reinforcing fences along the Golan border, increasing infantry troop numbers, posting more snipers and digging trenches.   Socialize this Subscribe to our RSS feed to stay in touch and receive all of TT updates right in your feed reader
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