Quartet Demands Israel to Meet Obligations in Road Map
GAZA (IPC + Agencies) -- The international Quartet Committee for peace in the Middle East (United Nations, United
States, European Union, Russia) called yesterday on Israel to meet its obligations stipulated in the Road Map peace
blueprint, Palestine News Agency (WAFA) reported.
The Quartet, which has convened on the ministerial level at the sideline of the59 th session of the United Nations
General Assembly, asserted on Wednesday night in a special statement that what raises concern is the absence of concrete
progress on the ground, calling Israel to take every possible step to ease the humanitarian and economic suffering of
the Palestinian people.
The statement called on Israel to take positive actions in terms of the Apartheid Wall’s route, stressing the need that
each party should not carry out unilateral moves that would undermine final status negotiations issues.
The foreign ministers of the Quartet reiterated the position that any Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip should be a
part of the Road Map peace plan, backed by the Quartet, which is intended to end the Israeli occupation of the
Palestinian lands in1967 , including West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, declared a couple of days ago he would start dismantling Israeli settlements
in the Gaza Strip as a part of a unilateral disengagement plan.
The Road Map plan envisages a viable Palestinian state, living side by side in peaceful coexistence with Israel, after
Israel has had dismantled illegal settlements in Gaza Strip and West Bank and withdrawn troops from these areas,
returning to the June4 , 1967 borders prior to the occupation by Israel of Arab lands including the Palestinian ones.