Europe Asia News

According to a statement by the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Dr. Varsen Aghabekian Shaheen held two separate online briefing meetings today with non-resident ambassadors accredited to Palestine.

The first meeting was attended by Arab ambassadors accredited to Palestine, while the second included foreign ambassadors from Africa, Latin America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

Assessing the situation in the Gaza Strip, Shaheen said the killing and destruction were continuing, noting that Palestinians had entered their fourth winter living in tents. She said problems in the health, education and service sectors were failing to meet Gaza's growing humanitarian needs and were deepening the hardships faced by people in their daily lives.

Shaheen also said the work of the Peace Council in Gaza should be activated on the ground and that there should be a transition from the first phase to the second phase of US President Donald Trump's peace plan.

Shaheen also addressed developments in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, drawing attention to Judaization policies in Jerusalem, increased incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque, continued settlement activity, the E1 settlement plan, land annexation, forced displacement and home demolitions, as well as rising settler violence. She said the Palestinian economy was being squeezed and that tax revenues belonging to the Palestinian Authority continued to be withheld in an effort to weaken the administration.