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Ammon News - Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Safadi on Tuesday, in a written statement submitted by the Kingdom to the quarterly session of the United Nations Security Council on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian issue, called on the international community to make greater efforts to safeguard the rights of all peoples of the region to live in security and peace.

He described the continued stalemate in efforts to achieve a just and comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution in accordance with international law as a danger that must be confronted through relaunching “serious and effective” negotiations and taking joint action that restores hope in the viability of the peace process and prevents the exacerbation of despair and conflict.

Safadi said that a just and lasting peace is a strategic Arab choice, a regional and international necessity, and a right for all peoples of the region, in which an independent, sovereign and viable Palestinian state, living in peace with Israel, on the June 4, 1967, lines with East Jerusalem as its capital is a goal that Jordan will continue to exert utmost efforts to achieve.

Safadi warned that the aforementioned solution diminishes every day as a result of the continuing illegal Israeli actions that demolish the land-for-peace notion, according to which the peace process was launched.

In the statement addressed to the session chaired by the Tunisian minister of foreign affairs, the current non-permanent Arab member in the council, Safadi said that continuing to build and expand settlements is a breach of international law, calling on the international community to adopt a clear stand against it.

Safadi denounced the continued Israeli violations against Al Aqsa Mosque/Al Haram Al Sharif, which mark Israel’s failure to meet its commitments as an occupying power.

The international quartet, including the UN, the US, the EU and Russia, has a fundamental role that must be activated, the foreign minister said.

Jordan, in accordance with the Hashemite Custodianship of Jerusalem’s Islamic and Christian holy sites and under the leadership of His Majesty King Abdullah, will continue safeguarding the Arab identity and historical and legal status quo of the city.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) must continue to provide services to refugees until their case is resolved, in a way that guarantees their right to return and compensation in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions, especially UN General Assembly Resolution 194, and within the framework of a comprehensive solution to the conflict, Safadi added.

He stressed that the Kingdom, in cooperation with its partners in the international community, will maintain efforts to mobilise international political and financial support for the agency, and enable it to carry out its duties according to its international obligations towards more than five-and-a-half million Palestinian refugees.

He pointed out that Jordan and Sweden recently hosted a meeting of the "Stockholm Group" for the strategic dialogue on UNRWA to discuss ways to provide sustainable support to the agency, expressing hopes that all countries would fulfill their pledges to aiding the agency as soon as possible, including meeting the emergency needs as a result of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Safadi congratulated Tunisian Foreign Minister Othman Jarandi on assuming the presidency of the Security Council for this month, and the five new non-permanent members of the Security Council for the period 2021-2022: Ireland, Norway, India, Mexico and Kenya.

Safadi thanked the former United Nations envoy for the Middle East peace process, Nickolay Mladenov, for his efforts over the past years, and affirmed his aspiration to work with the new envoy, Tor Wennesland, to find real prospects for establishing a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.