PLO official says US peace efforts focus on minor issues

Member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Ahmed Majdalani, said Monday that the US administration’s peace efforts focus on minor issues rather than the major ones and therefore there are no signs they will make a quantum leap in the Palestinian-Israeli peace process.

Speaking on Voice of Palestine radio, Majdalani said there is no meaning for any US effort unless it is based on the two-state solution and end of settlement activity.

He said the efforts should focus on how to end the Israeli occupation of Palestine as per international resolutions, which is the main issue, and not on minor and secondary issues.

There are no signs that the visit of the US delegation to Palestine scheduled for the end of the month is going to have any breakthrough in the peace process deadlocked since April 2015, he said.

Majdalani warned that the US administration does not treat the question of Palestine as a priority issue and instead focuses its efforts on the issues of China, Iran, Russia and North Korea.

On another subject, Majdalani expressed hope that the features of the next Palestinian National Council (PNC) session will become clear before the end of this week in terms of when and where it will be held, as well as agreement on its political agenda and future program.

While some Palestinian factions are pushing for convening the PNC before President Mahmoud Abbas’ upcoming speech at the United Nations General Assembly meeting next month, a full agreement on the details is still in the working.