Abbas warns Israel of armed resistance, suspending security ties amid rising attacks against Palestinians

The Palestinian Authority (PA) President, Mahmoud Abbas, said yesterday that he is against armed resistance but warned that he could change his mind in the very near future.

During an interview with Al Arabiya, he said, “I do not support armed Palestinian Resistance, but that could change. It could change — tomorrow, the next day, or some other time. Everything changes.”

“The Palestinian people are being oppressed and oppressed and oppressed to the point where they explode; Palestinians are being made to lose their patience,” he added.

It comes after the Israeli Occupation Forces shot and killed three Palestinians at point blank range in an overnight raid of the Occupied West Bank this week.

Fierce fighting erupted between Israeli Occupation Forces and local Palestinians in the aftermath of the murders. At least ten Palestinians were wounded by live fire and were taken to hospital for treatment.

The latest murders bring the total of Palestinians killed by the Israeli Occupation Forces since the beginning of this year to 216, an average of one Palestinian killed every 1.5 days so far, this year alone.

READ: Palestinians condemn Israel’s cold-blooded execution of Nablus youth

Abbas noted the continued international silence, impunity and lack of accountability that have encouraged the Israeli government to commit more crimes against the Palestinian people.

He also threatened to cancel the PA’s security agreement with Israel “if it continues to disregard humanitarian and political matters”.

The PA briefly suspended security coordination with Israel in 2020 due to the government’s plans to annex all or parts of the Occupied West Bank.

He added, “Security coordination is part of the agreements, and we have a theory that combating terrorism should be done wherever it is needed, and here is an important point that no one may know. We concluded agreements to combat terrorism and violence with 85 countries in the world, led by the US, UK, Canada, Russia and Japan.”

“Today we signed an agreement with Cyprus; we are, in principle, against terrorism and violence. Also, with Israel, we are against terrorism and violence, but if Israel continues with its actions, why should I complete and be committed to the security agreement? I will cancel my commitment to the security agreement if Israel continues to strike casually.”

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