PA cuts ties with US following PLO’s office closure

The Palestinian Authority (PA) announced today it is severing ties with the United States (US) in response to the US State Department last week’s decision that to shut down the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)’s office in Washington.

“The PA has decided to cut its ties with the US administration in response to the closure of the PLO office in Washington,” the Palestinian presidency spokesperson, Nabil Abu Rudeina, said in an official statement.

On Friday, the US State Department threatened to shut the PLO’s office in Washington DC under the condition that the PA takes part in peace talks with Israel. The US administration pledged that the PLO’s office could be reopened after 90 days if Trump believes the PA has entered into “direct, meaningful negotiations with Israel”.

The American move has been criticised by several international organisations, including the Arab League.

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On Saturday, the PLO executive committee Secretary, Saeb Erekat, warned that the Palestinian officials “would put on hold all communication with the US ammonisation, if it did not renew the PLO office’s license in Washington.”

The Palestinian Foreign Minister, Riyad Al-Malki, warned early this week that the US move “would hamper any hopes Washington has of brokering a Middle East peace deal.”