A Palestinian national dialogue will take place in Cairo in early February, said Prime Minister Mohamed Shtayyeh on Monday.
During the weekly cabinet session in Ramallah, the PM said all Palestinian factions will participate in these talks and discuss means to make the general elections scheduled for May a success.
Shtayyeh reiterated the government’s readiness to exert the maximum efforts for the success of the elections “we want and need to end the division and restore the democratic glow of the Palestinian institution and citizens’ daily life.”
The Palestinian Authority will submit a formal request for Israel to allow Palestinians in Jerusalem city to run and vote in the upcoming elections, Shtayyeh noted.
He called on the European Union “to prepare a team of international observers to help us, mainly in the election process in Jerusalem.”
Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas signed on Friday a decree setting legislative elections for May 22 and a presidential vote on July 31, in what would be the first Palestinian polls in 15 years.
Separately, Shtayyeh called for an end to settlers’ terror and the unprecedented settlement attack by Israel to undermine the two-state solution.
“The Israeli government’s decision to build 760 settlement units indicates the race with time with the outgoing US administration,” he stressed, noting that it is receiving US President-elect Joe Biden with this package of settlement projects.
He also warned that settlers are terrorizing Palestinian civilians in the occupied territories.
The PM cited Sunday’s attack on Madama village, north of the West Bank, and the attempt to kidnap the 11-year-old Hala al-Qat, stressing that they are just examples of repeated aggressions in all Palestinian territories.
He expressed hope that the new US administration would curb Israel’s settlement expansion, whether in Jerusalem, its environs, or in the rest of the Palestinian territories.
The PM further renewed the importance for world countries to assume their responsibilities and protect the two-state solution, which has gained international consensus.
