President Abbas meets with Dutch Prime Minister in New York

NEW YORK: President Mahmoud Abbas Wednesday met with Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, on the sidelines of his participation in the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. During the meeting, President Abbas discussed with Prime Minister Schoof Palestinian-Dutch bilateral relations and the importance of developing them in all fields, culminating in the recognition of the State of Palestine. President Abbas thanked Prime Minister Schoof for his country's support not only to the implementation of the two-state solution based on the United Nations resolutions, but also to the Palestinian people, particularly in terms of providing humanitarian aid. He voiced his appreciation of the Netherlands' support to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), particularly the Netherlands' assistance in the field of cross-border trade in Jericho and Rafah. The two officials also discussed advancing the efforts aimed at reaching a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and ensuring not only the entry of humanitarian aid into the Strip, but also providing shelters to the internally displaced persons, the withdrawal of the occupation forces from the Strip, and the cessation of the occupation forces and colonists' assaults in the West Bank, including Jerusalem. He called on the Netherlands to take action through the European Union to pressure Israel to implement the recent UN General Assembly resolution, demanding Israel to end its unlawful occupation of the Palestinian territories within 12 months. The President stressed the importance of supporting Palestine's bid for full membership in the United Nations and urged the European countries that have not recognized the State of Palestine to do so. He touched on the harsh financial and economic conditions Palestine has been going through as a result of the ongoing aggression and called on the Netherlands to exert pressure towards the cessation of all Israeli financial reprisals. Source: Palestine news & Information Agency - WAFA