Israeli–Palestinian peace process

A draft resolution on ending the Israeli occupation will be submitted to the UN Security Council Dec. 17 after the Palestinians agreed with France on a merged text, foreign minister Riyad al-Malki said.
      
"The draft that will be presented today (Wednesday) is the French draft based on Palestinian observations and decisions," Malki told AFP.
      

 U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Dec. 16 the United States had made "no determinations" about any possible U.N. Security Council resolutions on Palestinian statehood.
   

The French Members of Parliament adopted with a large majority on Tuesday a resolution calling on the government to recognise the Palestinian state, and through this to achieve a final settlement of the conflict.

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The Palestinian leadership urged France to act on a parliamentary vote Dec. 2 in favour of recognising Palestine as a state, expressing its "gratitude" to the French lawmakers.

"We call on the French government to translate its parliament's vote into action," Hanan Ashrawi, a senior leader in the Palestine Liberation Organisation, said in a statement.

Bulgaria on Wednesday said it is deeply concerned by the escalation of tensions in Jerusalem following the brutal slaying of Israeli worshippers by two Palestinian attackers.

Israeli plans for roughly 500 new settler homes in occupied east Jerusalem are a "slap in the face" of the United States and the international community, a top Palestinian official said.