His Majesty King Abdullah on Sunday said that Jordan is doing everything it can to help preserve the Arab identity of Jerusalem and protect its holy sites until it is liberated from occupation.

In a speech, copies of which were distributed at the final session of the 22nd Arab Summit in Sirte, Libya, King Abdullah also warned of the fading opportunity to find a just solution to the Palestinian issue and the Arab-Israeli conflict.

The King urged the international community, the US in particular, to continue its efforts to find a just solution to the Palestinian issue, in order to prevent the region and its people from sinking into another cycle of violence and conflict that would threaten global security.

“Israel must know that it will never have security unless the Palestinians also have their right to security, freedom and a state, and it must choose between remaining an isolated fortress or living in peace with its neighbours,” the King said, reiterating that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is the core conflict in the region.

He urged the international community to pressure Israel to remove the obstacles it has placed in the way of the peace process.

The King also urged the world to pressure Israel to stop all illegal and illegitimate practices, including continued settlement building in the occupied territories, especially East Jerusalem, as well as house demolitions and evictions of Palestinians that seek to change the demographics of East Jerusalem and erase its Arab character.

In his speech, King Abdullah said the Arabs' continued commitment to the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative has helped develop an unprecedented international consensus that the two-state solution is the only solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and that achieving just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East is a vital interest, not just for the Arabs, Palestinians and Israelis, but for the entire world.