Islam Times - EU urges Israel to withdraw from pre-1967 Palestinian territories

Islam Times - EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has urged the Israeli regime to withdraw from pre-1967 Palestinian territories within a three-year period.

Mogherini made the appeal in a Wednesday statement after the United Nations Security Council rejected a draft resolution demanding the recognition of an independent Palestinian state and the termination of the Israeli occupation.

Mogherini said the vote underlined the "urgency" for resumption of talks between Israel and the Palestinians as well as "the need for the international community to focus on" reaching a "comprehensive" peace agreement.

"The European Union will promote and support now more than ever efforts to achieve a lasting peace," she said.

On Tuesday, the Security Council did not adopt the draft resolution.

The resolution needed to secure at least nine votes to be adopted by the 15-member council. However, it managed to garner only eight positive votes as the US and Australia voted against the resolution and the UK, Rwanda, Nigeria, South Korea and Lithuania abstained.

In the past few months, the Palestinian national unity government has been pushing for the resolution to determine the borders of a future Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 lines.

In 1967, Israel occupied the West Bank, East al-Quds (Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip, but withdrew from the enclave and lay siege to it in 2005.

Palestinians are seeking to create an independent state on the territories of the West Bank, East al-Quds, and the besieged Gaza Strip, and are demanding that Israel withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territories.