Italy's government "firmly believes" in the Palestinian Authority and hopes it will be Israel's "real future interlocutor" talks on a two-state solution to the longstanding conflict between the Jewish State and the Palestinians.
"We firmly believe in the Palestinian Authority," foreign minister Antonio Tajani told Radio 24 Mattino on Monday, referring to the body led by Mahmoud Abbas, which exercises limited governance over parts of the occupied West Bank.
"We hope it (the PA) can be the real future interlocutor to create a free and independent Palestinian state which can dialogue with Israel," Tajani said.
"Two peoples, two states remains our main goal. It's a tough challenge but we are stubborn, we are moving forward," Tajani claimed.
Tajani's comments came the same day that Palestinian premier Mohammad Shtayyeh said he was stepping down to allow "new governmental and political arrangements" and "the urgent need for an inter-Palestinian consensus".
Shtayyeh's resignation must be accepted by Abbas, who is under United States pressure to reform the PA amid intensifying international efforts to stop the 143-day-old Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip and create a political structure to govern the Palestinian coastal enclave after the war.
Formed in 1994 under the interim Oslo peace accords, the PA lost control of Gaza in 2007 following a struggle with Hamas after the Islamist group won the 2006 Palestinian legislative election.
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