Also on Wednesday, al-Maliki sat down with his Sudanese counterpart, Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour, in order to discuss Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent high-profile tour of several East African countries, according to the Sudan Tribune.
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This is to “alleviate the suffering of the brothers in (the Gaza) Strip and (ease) the severe financial hardship they are facing due to the unjust blockade imposed by the Israeli occupation”, it said.
Netanyahu offered the Palestinian leader his condolences on the death of his brother Omar from cancer in Qatar on Thursday.
Addressing journalists in Vienna before flying to Paris, Kerry said the meeting would take place towards the end of July.
He also urged Israel, as the occupying power, to ensure that vulnerable Palestinian communities in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are protected in line with its obligations under worldwide law.
Most recently, Netanyahu accused Abbas of libeling the Jewish people last month when he claimed that some rabbis had called for Palestinian wells to be poisoned.
Paris is hoping this dynamic will lead to the holding of an global peace conference in which many parties – the United Nations, the European Union, the Arab League and others – can push Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table.
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However Israeli government declined the French initiative and demanded that the direct talks should be held with no prior conditions between the parties and the (Palestinian Authority’s) responsibility to combat terror and incitement.
