Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says he is determined to continue making efforts toward the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in the territories occupied by Israel.

Speaking at a regional World Economic Forum conference in Jordan on Friday, Abbas accused the Tel Aviv regime of standing in the way of the establishment of a Palestinian state due to its occupation of and expansion of illegal settler units on Palestinian lands.

“Israel’s continuation of its occupation and settlement activity and imposing realities on the ground” prevent the achievement of Palestinians’ desire for a sovereign state, the Palestinian president said.

Palestinians are seeking to create an independent state on the territories of the West Bank, East al-Quds (Jerusalem), and the besieged Gaza Strip, and are demanding that Israel withdraw from the occupied territories.

In December last year, Palestinians presented a bid for statehood to the UN Security Council, with Washington and Tel Aviv formulating a joint bid in opposition to the move. The proposed resolution failed to garner the requisite majority. A new resolution is, however, being drafted over the issue.

Over the past years, the Israeli regime has expanded its illegal settlement construction in the occupied territories.

More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 illegal settlements built since Israel’s occupation of the West Bank including East al-Quds in 1967.

Much of the international community regards the settlements as illegal because the territories were seized by Israel in a 1967 war and are hence subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbid construction on occupied lands.

SSM/GHN/HJL