Assembly/AU/Decl.2(XXVII) Page 1 DECLARATION ON THE SITUATION IN PALESTINE AND THE MIDDLE EAST Doc. EX.CL/961(XXIX) We, the Heads of State and Government of the African Union, having met at our Twenty Seventh Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly in Kigali, Rwanda from 17 to 18 July 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; Reaffirming our full support to the Palestinian people under the leadership of the Palestinian Liberation Organization in their quest for the restoration of their legitimate rights to establish an independent state co-existing peacefully with the State of Israel with East Jerusalem as its capital, and Calling For the implementation of Resolution 194 requiring the return of the Palestinian refugees to their home and properties; 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; and Support all initiatives aimed at bringing peace to the region in particular the French initiative of holding international peace conference aimed at re-launching negotiations to solve the Palatine-Israeli conflict on specific timeframe; 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, and Further Condemning the illegal settlements in the West Bank, Jerusalem, and in the occupied territory of the Syrian Golan Heights; 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;