BRICS leaders emphasize need to define status of Jerusalem through Israel-Palestine talks

JOHANNESBURG, July 26. /TASS/. The leaders of BRICS member states (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) believe that the status of Jerusalem should be determined through talks between Israel and Palestine, says the Johannesburg Declaration adopted at the tenth BRICS summit in South Africa’s Johannesburg. "We reiterate that the status of Jerusalem is one of the final status issues to be defined in the context of negotiations between Israel and Palestine," the five leaders pointed out. The BRICS leaders agreed "that the conflicts elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa should not be used to delay resolution of long-standing conflicts, in particular the Palestinian-Israeli conflict." "We reiterate the need for renewed diplomatic efforts to achieve a just, lasting and comprehensive settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in order to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East on the basis of relevant United Nations resolutions, the Madrid Principles, the Arab Peace Initiative and previous agreements between the parties, through negotiations with a view to creating an independent, viable, territorially contiguous Palestinian State living side by side in peace and security with Israel," the declaration reads. "With regard to the situation in Gaza, we reiterate our support to the UN General Assembly Resolution… on the protection of the Palestinian population and call for its full implementation," the document added. Read more