Assembly/AU/Decl.1(XXVI) Page 1 DECLARATION ON THE SITUATION IN PALESTINE AND THE MIDDLE EAST Doc. EX.CL/930(XXVIII) WE, the Heads of State and Government of the African Union, having met at our Twenty Sixth Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Africa from 30 to 31 January 2016; TAKING NOTE of the Report on the Situation in the Middle East and Palestine, and RECALLING all resolutions and decisions of the Organization of African Unity/African Union on the Situation in Palestine towards achieving lasting peace and security in the Middle East; REAFFIRMS our full support to the Palestinian people in their quest for the restoration of their legitimate rights to establish an independent State co-existing peacefully with the State of Israel; REITERATING our wish for the peaceful resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict in accordance with the principles of international law and all relevant United Nations resolutions; and EXPRESSING support for the two-state solution; RENEWING our call for the resumption of negotiations between the two sides in order to reach a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in the Middle East; COMMENDING the AU Member States as well as the UN Agencies that raised the Palestinian Flag in political support of the State of Palestine; CONDEMNING the continued occupation of Palestinian lands and the Judaization campaign aimed at changing all Islamic and Christian features of the Holy City and reducing the Palestinian population to the fullest extent through the confiscation of their lands and the destruction of their homes, a sectarian concept which undermines the foundation of the peace process; DENOUNCING the Israeli practices against the Palestinian prisoners and detainees, which are contrary to the international law and international humanitarian law, and CALLING on the Israeli government to release all Palestinian and Arab political prisoners and detainees in the Israeli jails; EQUALLY DEMANDING that Israel refrains from using acts of terrorism against the Palestinian’s civilian populations as well as arbitrary arrests of Palestinians including children and women which is an act of violation of international laws and human rights norms including the Geneva Convention on the Rights of Women and Children; FURTHER CONDEMNING Israel for withholding Palestinian funds and tax revenues, which constitute a cornerstone of the Palestinian economy, and CALLING on the international community to put pressure on Israel to release Palestinian tax funds that has withheld.