(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) A meeting of donors for the Palestinian people ended here Wednesday evening by calling for the resumption of the talks between Israelis and Palestinians and for a stop to expansion of Israeli settlements. "There is a clear message from this meeting that it is more urgent than ever to resume the talks between Israel and the Palestinian authorities for a two-state solution," Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende told reporters. He chaired the annual spring meeting of the donor coordination group for the Palestinian people, the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC) which was hosted by EU High Representative Federica Mogherini.
Brende described the meeting as "very productive" and said took stock of the situation in the Palestinian territories and Israel.
"The donors are urging the Palestinians and Israelis to take up again their talks. They also called for a cease in Israeli settlements," he stressed.
"Without a hope for a solution the donors will be also increasingly impatient. There has to be hope for a 2-state solution even if it looks more difficult than it has been for some time," said the Norwegian foreign minister.
He said there is a clear message from this meeting that what was pledged at Cairo conference on Gaza last year needs to be followed up, and noted that about USD 1 billion out of the total pledge of USD 3.5 billion has been paid up till now.
He added that the ministerial meeting of the AHLC will be held in New York in September.
On her part, Mogherini told the meeting that the EU is ready to help to re-launch the Middle East Peace Process and warned that "it is an illusion to think the status-quo is an option." Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah as well as several Brussels-based Arab ambassadors also attended the one-day meeting.
Since its establishment in 1993, the AHLC has served as the principal policy-level coordination mechanism for development assistance to the Palestinian people.
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