British Foreign Secretary William Hague said yesterday that London fully backs US efforts to restart negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel.
Hague met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, where the two discussed the latest efforts to revive the stalled peace process.
Abbas stressed to Hague that Israeli settlement activities in the West Bank and settler attacks against Palestinian civilians “obstruct international efforts to revive the peace process,” according to official Palestinian news agency WAFA.
Hague praised efforts by US Secretary of State John Kerry to revive the peace process, stressing the importance of resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, based on a two-state solution with mutually agreed land swaps and Jerusalem as capital of the two states. He called for a fair and agreed solution to the refugee issue.
Hague warned that the two-state solution was running out of time and has become an “urgent” matter. He said Britain was working with the United States as well as the Palestinians and Israelis to find a solution to the West Asian conflict.
Earlier, Kerry was in Ramallah for a meeting with Abbas where the two discussed reviving the peace process.
Palestinian official, Yasser Abed Rabbo, who attended the meetings with Kerry and Hague, said that Kerry did not bring final ideas to restart negotiations.
“I cannot say that Kerry brought with him conclusive and tangible ideas,” he said, explaining that the US was still talking to both sides to “narrow the gap between them.” He said Britain and Europe in general want to see the peace process move forward.
“They want to complement the US efforts and not to present alternative or new ideas,” he said.