By Awad al-Rujoub
RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas plans to unveil an initiative next month for providing international protection for the Palestinians against Israeli violations, his spokesman said Saturday.
In a speech to the UN General Assembly. Abbas will announce his initiative "to provide protection to our people, end the [Israeli] occupation and to establish the independent Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital, on the borders of 1967," Nabil Abu Rudeineh told official Palestine Radio.
However, he gave no details of the initiative.
Turkish leaders have long called for the establishment of an international force to protect Palestinians, especially since this May, when Israel killed dozens of Palestinians and injured hundreds.
Abu Rudeineh also hailed a US call for Israel to stop the expulsion of Palestinians from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah, occupied East Jerusalem, also urging Washington "to take tangible steps on the ground" to prevent Israeli eviction plans.
On Monday, Israel’s Israeli Supreme Court delayed a final verdict on an appeal by four Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah, who face imminent expulsion to make way for Jewish settlers.
Palestinians, however, continue to face Israeli threats forcing them to vacate their homes.
According to figures released by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OHCA), Israel has killed 48 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since the start of the year.
Israeli authorities also demolished 532 Palestinian structures and displaced 737 Palestinians from their homes during the same period, it said.
*Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara