Ramallah – Ma'an - During its weekly cabinet meeting on Monday, the Palestinian government in Ramallah condemned the killing of four Palestinians in Nablus in less than 24 hours by Israel forces. The cabinet also condemned Israeli military strikes on the Gaza Strip.

Ministers warned that Israel's recent escalation in military violence endangered the Palestinian Authority's achievements in the fields of security and stability, and called on international entities to exert pressure on Israel to bring all such actions to a halt, as they coincide with the International Quartet's demand for Israel to stop all settlement activity.

The cabinet said the PA would not allow for a return to violence, adding that the international community’s assistance is essential in ensuring that an armed conflict does not erupt. This, stated ministers, comes through practical steps to bind Israel to halting intensified military action and settlement activity.

Furthermore, cabinet ministers welcomed Sunday's comments by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon denouncing "illegal" settlement activity and Israeli assaults in the West Bank and Jerusalem. Ministers further demanded a concrete deadline for the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Arab League summit in Libya

The cabinet called upon Arab leaders participating in next week’s Arab League summit in Libya to form a united Arab plan to protect Jerusalem from Israel's settlement enterprise. Arab leaders, ministers added, should endeavor to lift the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip and provide the PA with the financial support needed to reconstruct the costal enclave following Israel's winter assault in 2008-2009.

The PA cabinet further decided to provide financial support to Palestinian universities in the West Bank and Gaza with the Euro-Mediterranean academic network, agreeing that the move would foster academic research centers in Palestine and lays the foundations for electronic education.