clear

Creating new perspectives since 2009

Palestine president ends ‘all agreements’ with Israel, US

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has declared all security agreements with Israel and the US void in response to the threat of further Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank

May 20, 2020 at 11:57 am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has declared all security agreements with Israel and the US void in response to the imminent threat of further Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank which are supported by the US President Donald Trump.

“The Palestine Liberation Organization [PLO] and the state of Palestine are absolved, as of today, of all the agreements and understandings with the American and Israeli governments and of all the commitments based on these understandings and agreements, including the security ones,” Abbas said during an emergency meeting in Ramallah, according to Wafa news agency.

Citing a Palestinian official who was in attendance, Haaretz reported that Abbas only intends to stop coordination, but had not yet “closed the door”. Palestinian security forces may reduce their engagement with their counterparts in Israel, according to the source.

READ: EU will not recognise unilateral Israel annexation of West Bank

The 85-year old leader has made previous threats to end security cooperation but these have not materialised. It has been suggested that such accords between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank are crucial in preventing the Hamas movement from gaining a foothold, which is a stronghold of Abbas’ rival Fatah party.

Yesterday, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei tweeted that the West Bank should be armed “just as Gaza”.

Reacting to the proposed Israeli annexations which include the Jordan Valley, Jordan’s King Abdullah warned on the weekend that such moves could lead to a “massive conflict” between their countries and could end Jordan’s 1994 peace agreement with Israel. However, these were dismissed by an Israel general as “hollow”.

READ: Israel envoy to US lobbies for annexation, fearing Biden victory