{{Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called for an end to the division among Palestinians in the wake of the United Nations upgrading the authority’s status — as Israel refused to acknowledge that newfound recognition.}}
“The people who have achieved the accomplishment of the 29th of November, when the world wrote the birth certificate of the state of Palestine, are capable of imposing the will of the people in making the reconciliation happen,” he said at a packed rally in Ramallah.
The U.N. General Assembly on Thursday elevated the authority’s status from “non-member observer entity” to “non-member observer state” — the same category as the Vatican.
Palestinian leaders had previously launched a failed bid for full U.N. membership.
Abbas is a part of the Palestinian faction Fatah, which controls the West Bank. Gaza is controlled by Hamas, which has battled Fatah for power and — until last week — long opposed its efforts to achieve the status upgrade.
Abbas, speaking Sunday, said there are “a lot of missions” ahead, and the “most important is to restore our national unity and achieve reconciliation.”
Israel and the United States have slammed the authority’s move at the United Nations, with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday it was “a step that will not bring us closer to peace.”
And, in response to the U.N. move, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused Sunday to reconsider a plan to build thousands of new homes in occupied territory.
The United States and a number of European nations called on Israel to roll back the settlement plan in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which was announced Friday.
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