Translated by Sabrin Qadah 

The Governor of Palestine at the Islamic Development Bank, D. Mohammed Shtayyeh called for a serious Arab Islamic stand with the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails who are on their hunger strike for the 31st day in a row, in order to meet the minimum demands of the Fourth Geneva Convention and the provisions of international law.

In his address to the annual meetings of the Islamic Development Bank Group held in Jeddah from 15 to 18 May, Shatyyeh called on the Bank to raise additional funds to support the steadfastness of the city's people in order to keep its Islamic Arab Palestinian identity with a civilized and humane dimension in the face of Israeli policies aimed at Judaizing and isolating it from its Cultural and social extension.

Shtayyeh thanked the Bank for its contribution to Jerusalem and the rest of the Palestinian cities through the funding of the Al-Aqsa and Al-Quds funds, and assistance financed by Arab and Islamic funds for various development fields in Palestine. He proposed to the Bank to review its work mechanisms and structures in a way that includes the work of the Department of Palestine in order to assess performance and study impact for the purpose of raising additional funds from countries and from the Arab and Islamic private sector.

Shtayyeh presented a summary of some economic indicators in Palestine, pointing out that the most serious indicators are the unemployment rate among young people in the age group 19-29, which amounted to 56%, which warns of serious social, economic and political consequences.

He added that Israel is working to restrict and confiscate the factors of production, particularly land and water, in order to expand its settlement program, which is aimed at undermining the possibility of a future Palestinian state.

In a related context, he warned of Israel's attempts to circumvent the Arab peace initiative through a regional solution and establish relations with the Arab countries without giving a price, adding that Israel is trying to turn the initiative and push the so-called economic peace under the premise that the political process is stalled and has reached a dead end.

He said that Israel wanted the split to continue because the division of the Palestinian people is an Israeli colonial interest that lies in keeping the status quo as it is. He also referred to the efforts of the Palestinian leadership to break the status quo in the West Bank and achieve reconciliation with Hamas.

On the sidelines of the meetings, Shtayyeh held bilateral meetings with the President of the Islamic Development Bank, Bandar Mohammad Hajjar, and the Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, Yousef bin Mohammed Al-Othaimeen, in which they affirmed the support of the Palestinian people.