CSTO Parliamentary Assembly Adopted a Statement on the Situation in the Middle East

During the meeting on December 9 in Moscow, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization adopted a Statement expressing deep concern about the current situation in the Middle East, especially in the context of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the Lebanese-Israeli confrontation.

The Statement emphasizes that level of confrontation in the occupied Palestinian territory and on the Lebanese-Israeli border reached an unprecedented scale. The members of the Assembly noted that the bloodshed that has been going on for more than a year requires a resolute and consolidated response from the international community.

The parliamentarians drew attention to the destabilizing impact of the unresolved Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the entire region. Violent confrontations over the Gaza Strip have catalyzed a sharp escalation of the situation in Lebanon; therefore, the participants called on the international community to make active diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the conflict and implement the resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council and the General Assembly.

The Statement also emphasizes the need to achieve a just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, including the exercise of the right of the Palestinians to establish their own independent State within 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. With regard to Lebanon, the Assembly stated the importance of implementing the UN Security Council resolution 1701 (2006) to normalize the situation.

"We express our full support for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, which is playing a stabilizing role in the Blue Line area. We support international efforts aimed at preventing further expansion of confrontation and creating conditions for achieving sustainable and lasting peace and security in the Middle East," reads the text of the Statement published on the website of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly.