Palestinian PM calls on US Congress to abolish 'hostile' laws targeting Palestine

RAMALLAH - Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye on Monday called on the US Congress to abolish "hostile" laws and regulations targeting the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and to recognize the Palestinian state.

Speaking to a delegation of 22 US Congress members at his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Ishtaye also called for amendments to laws and regulations that link the PLO to "terrorism".

In 1987, the US Congress passed the Anti-Terrorism Act, designating the PLO as a "terrorist organization" and prohibiting the establishment of its headquarters on US soil. However, successive US presidents have issued exemptions through their approval, a practice that began after the signing of the Oslo Accords between Israel and the PLO in 1993.

Ishtaye further called on the US Congress to condemn Israeli settlement expansion and to take "deterrent measures" to safeguard the two-state solution. He warned that the continuation of the status quo would lead to a "one-state reality" with an apartheid regime.

The Palestinians want to establish an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel on all the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel in 1967, including the entire West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital.