From Egypt, Albares hopes that Israel will once again be “a partner for peace, as in the past”

Eduardo González Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares expressed his hope this Wednesday that Palestine will become a full member of the United Nations within twelve months so that negotiations can be held in which Israel will once again be "a partner for peace, as in the past," and in which "two sovereign states, the occupied and the occupier, sit down to talk." Albares made these statements to the press in Cairo, where he is accompanying the King and Queen on their first state visit to Egypt, "a key partner country for Spain in the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and Africa." In the Egyptian capital, the minister held a bilateral meeting on Tuesday with his counterpart, Badr Abdelatty, with whom he discussed the "fundamental role" his country plays "in the hopes for peace in the Middle East and also for the Palestinian people" thanks to their joint mediation efforts "together with the United States and Qatar." "These are all words of praise and gratitude for Spain's position, which the Egyptian ministers themselves conveyed to us. My colleague told me very emphatically: all Egyptians, without exception, applaud Spain's foreign policy, as millions of people around the world are applauding right now," he stated. "Next week is not only an important moment, but a crucial one for the future of Palestine," because "we have a two-state conference (in New York) where, unfortunately, the representatives of the Palestinian National Authority will not be able to be physically present," the minister recalled. "They will be there in one way or another," because "we must continue making progress toward the recognition of the State of Palestine," reiterated Albares. “I said it on July 28th from the rostrum of the United Nations General Assembly: we have to give ourselves twelve months, we have to set a deadline for Palestine to become a full member of the United Nations,” because “the day there is negotiation is not the same,” he continued. “I am sure that one day there will be negotiations, because I am sure that in Israel too we will find a partner for peace, as in other times,” which will help “two sovereign states sit down to talk, to dialogue, for the occupied and the occupier to do so.” The Foreign Minister also insisted on the need to promote “a realistic and viable Palestinian state, with Gaza and the West Bank under a single Palestinian National Authority, connected by a corridor with a port and access to the sea, and with its capital in East Jerusalem,” and, to achieve this, he warned, “we have to help the Palestinian National Authority.” To that end, Albares recalled that a "global alliance, a clearly Spanish initiative," will also meet in New York, the objective of which is to "crystallize all the support and everything that must be necessary for the immediate implementation of a realistic and viable Palestinian state." "We must provide financial support to the Palestinian National Authority, and there, Spain, with Norway, is working to put on the table a fund to compensate for all those taxes that belong to the Palestinian National Authority and that Israel is withholding," he declared. "Hamas cannot play any role in a realistic Palestine," he stated. "Hamas does not believe in the two-state solution. Hamas is a terrorist organization that does not want peace, and therefore we must also provide financial support to the Palestinian National Authority," he insisted. He also warned, "Israel is trying to annihilate the possibility of a Palestinian state with bombs in Gaza, in a veritable massacre. It is trying to suffocate and financially kill the Palestinian National Authority, and we cannot allow that, just as we cannot allow the illegal settlements to continue to expand."

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