Palestinian leader supports more talks on UN bid

The Palestinians have been pressing for some sort of action in the UN’s most powerful body. Council member Jordan sponsored the resolution on Wednesday, after a day of talks among Arab states. The resolution calls for Israeli forces to be withdrawn by the end of 2017 from territories captured during the 1967 War.

The resolution “comes in the context of our political battle to liberate the land and end the occupation of the Palestinian state”, Abbas told a Palestinian leadership meeting.

“We will continue in our consultations with the brothers and friends through deliberations, which will take place in the United Nations,” he added.

Earlier, Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour said the resolution does not close the door on further negotiations on the issue, including with the United States. The US, as a permanent council member, has almost always vetoed measures targeting Israel.

As Abbas spoke in the West bank city of Ramallah, thousands of members of his Fatah party demonstrated in the Gaza Strip.

The protesters were supporters of Mohammed Dahlan, a former Fatah strongman in Gaza whom Abbas fired in a power struggle. They carried pro-Dahlan posters and lambasted Abbas for alleged corruption and supposed servility in the face of the continuing Israeli occupation of the West Bank.

The rally was approved by the Hamas group — a rival of Fatah — in an apparent effort to keep up the pressure on Abbas in the coastal territory.