Palestinian Authority (PA) cabinet leader Mohammad Shtayyeh reiterated on Thursday that the PA leadership is determined to hold the parliamentary elections on May 22, including in eastern Jerusalem.
"The determination to include (eastern) Jerusalem in the election is not a technical issue or related to the number of elected officials, but a political issue that concerns the non-relinquishment of Jerusalem as part of the Palestinian national and political fabric, as well as a right recognized in agreements signed with the Israeli side," Shtayyeh said in a speech before the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council.
"Israel is fighting against our presence in Jerusalem by preventing pre-election meetings and arresting two candidates in the election," he claimed.
Shtayyeh called on the EU to pressure on Israel to allow the elections to take place in eastern Jerusalem and not delay the access of international observers to the "Palestinian territories."
He also said that relations with the United States had returned to normal after the Biden administration took office, renewed the financial support for UNRWA and announced its intentions to reopen the PLO office in Washington and the US consulate in eastern Jerusalem.
Shtayyeh also called on Europe to strengthen the professional and legal role of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, noting that "Israel systematically destroys every opportunity to establish a Palestinian state and commits war crimes, whether by continuing the settlement, confiscating land, killing (Palestinians) and demolishing homes, in addition to establishing an apartheid system in the field through barriers and checkpoints."
The PA cabinet leader called for a committee in the European Parliament to investigate Israel's "racism" against the Palestinian people.
"We want to revive the political process under the umbrella of the international quartet, and the basic solution to the Palestinian conflict and issue is the political solution, but there is no real partner in Israel," claimed Shtayyeh.