Pakistan backs Palestinian state with Jerusalem as capital

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Wednesday released a statement on the announcement of the peace plan for the Middle East by the United States known as the ‘Deal of the Century’.

The Foreign Office said that Pakistan has consistently supported a two-state solution, as enshrined in the relevant Security Council and General Assembly Resolutions.

“Pakistan continues to support a just and lasting solution of the Palestinian issue, through dialogue and negotiations, that leads to the realisation of the legitimate rights of the Palestinians, including the right of self-determination,” said the statement.

Pakistan backed Palestine’s demand for making Jerusalem as the capital of its independent state on the basis of pre-1967 borders. UN resolutions on the issue term all Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal and call for a solution based on borders before the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

“We renew call for the establishment of a viable, independent and contiguous State of Palestine, on the basis of internationally-agreed parameters, the pre-1967 borders, and with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital,” the statement added.

US President Donald Trump presented the Middle East peace plan as a solution to the long-running Israel-Palestine conflict.

The plan would allow the Palestinians to establish a capital on the outskirts of east Jerusalem but would leave most of the city under Israeli control. It also envisages a Palestinian state in parts of the West Bank, but would allow Israel to annex its settlements in the occupied territory.

The plan prompted a lukewarm response from Europe and the UN, and a furious rebuke from key Muslim countries who denounced it as a betrayal of the Palestinians. Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas vowed that “this conspiracy deal will not pass” and completely rejected the peace deal.