Fatah: Israel attempts to turn PA into expanded municipality

Member of Fatah executive committee Mohamed Ishtea said on Friday that Israel does not want a Palestinian state based upon the 1967 borders because it recognises that this would contribute to its end, Qudsnet reported.

During the inauguration of a conference about Palestinian refugees in the refugee camp of Ayda in the West Bank, he said that Israel wants the Palestinians to remain living in small scattered cantons.

Ishtea stressed that the Oslo Agreement happened during a very difficult political situation for the Arab countries, noting that there was a number of positive points in the agreement such as the return of 150,000 Palestinian refugees and the establishment of the state.

Meanwhile, he said that there are many negative points in the agreement, which have to be corrected by spreading national awareness and rebuilding the PLO, thus enabling it to carry out its role as a home for all the Palestinians.

He stated that the Palestinian Authority is just a name, “but in fact, it is an expanded municipality.” It should have been changed to a state in 1999, but Israel destroyed everything and also sought the destruction of the PA and its cancellation.