ADDIS ABABA, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat has again called for peacefully solving the Israel-Palestine issue through the "two-state solution," said an AU statement Saturday.
The chairperson made the remarks Thursday in a meeting with Israeli Ambassador to Ethiopia Aleli Admasu, during which the two sides discussed the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to the statement.
The issue has been a cause of great concern for over 70 years with various regional and international actors having participated in the search for peace between the two sides, said the chairperson.
"The path towards long-lasting peace and stability requires that the peace process and the solutions sought must not only be acceptable, but must guarantee the rights of all parties," Mahamat said.
He said that the pan-African bloc, in its nearly sixty-year history, has been "very clear on its position that in the issue of Palestine and Israel, a two-state solution is necessary for a peaceful co-existence."
The Israeli ambassador expressed his appreciation of the opportunity to meet with Mahamat, saying it marked the beginning of a new phase in building Israel's relationship with the region at a continental level.
The engagement with African states through the AU is key to building multilateralism required for promoting the continental initiatives on Africa's Agenda 2063, said the ambassador.
