NEW YORK: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday that there will be no peace in the Middle East if Palestinians do not fully enjoy their legitimate rights, reported Xinhua.

"Those who think that peace can prevail in the Middle East without the Palestinian people enjoying their full and legitimate rights would be mistaken," Abbas told the General Debate of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

He called for Palestine's full membership in the UN and urged countries to recognise its statehood.

"I can neither understand, nor accept, that some, including America and Europe, are reluctant to recognise the state of Palestine, which the UN has accepted as an observer state."

He appealed for holding an international peace conference, in which all countries concerned with achieving peace in the Middle East will participate.

Abbas requested UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to make necessary arrangements for the conference.

He called on the UN and Guterres to implement relevant resolutions to protect the Palestinian people.

In the face of Israel's systematic destruction of the two-state solution, it has become necessary to call on each UN member state, in its national capacity, to take practical steps on the basis of the relevant resolutions, Abbas said.

"My message to the international community is that it should assume its responsibilities with full courage and implement resolutions related to realising Palestinian rights," he said.

-- BERNAMA