Int'l Pressure on Israel Only Way to Solve Israel-Palestine Conflict

SOCHI (Sputnik) — The international community must pressure Israel to end its occupation of Palestinian lands and allow a two-state resolution, a Palestinian official told RT TV on Wednesday.

A new wave of violence in the decades-long regional conflict was recently sparked by clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces at East Jerusalem’s Temple Mount holy site in September. Since then, dozens of people have been killed.

“The only way to solve the problem is to build sufficient international pressure on Israel to end occupation,” General Secretary of the Palestine National Initiative Mustafa Barghouti said on the sidelines of the Valdai International Discussion Club in the Russian city of Sochi.

He added that “talking about peace talks without results is insanity” since “all talks before, 22 years of talks, led only to deepening the problem.”

Barghouti stressed the importance of Russian-Palestinian relations, expressing hope that Russia would continue its support for Palestinian independence and, alongside China, South Africa and the European States, would play a more important role in mediating a peaceful resolution to the conflict now that Washington's biased efforts toward Israel have failed.

Palestinians seek diplomatic recognition for their independent state, proclaimed in 1988 on the territories of West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.

Most of the areas claimed by the State of Palestine were seized by Israel in 1967 during the Six-Day War. The Israeli government refuses to recognize Palestine as an independent political and diplomatic entity.