Palestine has decided to withdraw from all agreements with Israel and the United States. This was stated by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a meeting with the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah.
“Now we are freed from all agreements and arrangements concluded with the governments of the United States and Israel, including those related to security,” the Palestinian leader said.
Abbas also said that Israeli authorities should be held accountable for actions against Palestine.
“From now on, the occupying authorities must bear all responsibility for fulfilling all obligations to the international community as the power that occupied the territory of the State of Palestine, as well as full responsibility for all possible consequences in accordance with international law and international humanitarian law, especially the 4th Geneva Convention of 1949, ”said Abbas.
The Palestinian leader recalled that the convention imposes an obligation on the occupation authorities to protect civilians under occupation, as well as their property, prohibiting the theft of resources, confiscation or annexation of land.
According to Abbas, the United States is an accomplice of Israel "in all its aggressive and unfair decisions" against Palestine.
“We hold the American administration fully responsible for the injustice of the Palestinian people and consider it the main accomplice of the occupying Israeli government in all its aggressive and unfair decisions and measures against the Palestinian people. At the same time, we welcome all the positions of other American political parties that reject the aggressive policy of this administration against our people and their legitimate rights, ”the Palestinian leader said.
Abbas also reaffirmed that Palestine adheres to the resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict through the creation of two states. According to him, the Palestinian leadership is ready to agree to the deployment of third-party forces on the Palestinian-Israeli border, however, it has put forward several requirements for negotiations on this topic: the dominant role of the Quartet for Middle East settlement (EU, Russia, USA and UN), the format of an international peace conference and following the legal norms established by the international community.
“We reaffirm that we adhere to international law and obligations to combat international terrorism in all its manifestations and from any sources,” the Palestinian President added.
- Mahmoud Abbas
- AFP
- © Alaa BADARNEH / POOL
“Seeks to protect its territories”
Speech by Mahmoud Abbas was made after May 17, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed the intention of the new government to unilaterally annex the part of the West Bank and Jordan Valley.
“This is the truth: the Jewish people were born and developed in these territories. The time has come to extend Israeli sovereignty to them and add another glorious chapter to the history of Zionism, ”Netanyahu said during his speech after the approval of the Israeli government.
- Ruined building in Palestine
- AFP
- © ABBAS MOMANI
Earlier, on May 6, Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett announced that he had signed a permit to build houses in the Jewish settlement of Efrat on the West Bank. He announced this on his Twitter page.
Prior to this, on April 22, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo commented on Israel’s intentions to annex part of the West Bank. According to him, Washington leaves the issue to Israeli politicians.
“With regard to the annexation of the West Bank, ultimately, these decisions are made by the Israelis,” the head of the United States Foreign Office said during a press briefing. - This decision remains with Israel. We will work closely with him and will confidentially share our point of view on this subject. ”
In November 2019, Pompeo claimed that the US side did not consider the annexation of part of the West Bank and Jordan Valley a violation of international law. Israeli authorities then welcomed this decision.
Recall that in the Trump plan, known as the "deal of the century" and presented to the public on January 28, 2020, it was a question of the possibility for Israel to annex the Palestinian territories on the West Bank. In addition, the plan calls for the creation of a Palestinian state, but the Gaza Strip will be demilitarized and Hamas disarmed.
As the future capital of Palestine "in the deal of the century" is indicated the village of Abu Dis in the eastern suburbs of Jerusalem. At the same time, the plan notes that Jerusalem will be the single and indivisible capital of Israel.
Palestinians have repeatedly stated that they reject the "deal of the century." In particular, Mahmoud Abbas called the plan proposed by the American leader “conspiracy”. They did not support the initiative of the head of the White House in the League of Arab States. A number of countries in the Middle East, including Jordan and Turkey, condemned the deal.
According to Araik Stepanyan, a member of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems presidium in an interview with RT, Palestine’s withdrawal from all agreements with Israel and the United States “can be called a response” to the actions of the Israeli side supported by the United States, as well as to the “deal of the century”. At the same time, the expert emphasizes that “such a serious step by Abbas” testifies to the intentions of Palestine “to protect their interests at all costs”.
“This suggests that Palestine has no choice but to switch to other, more severe forms of struggle and defense of its territories. Because otherwise Israeli aggression will be legalized. By his decision, Abbas made it clear to the United States that Palestine was not ready under any circumstances to recognize the illegal annexation by Israel. In addition, the Palestinian leader got rid of the obligations that were dictated to a greater extent by Washington, ”the analyst said.
Stepanyan also focuses on the fact that in his statement, Abbas blamed not only Israel, but also the United States.
“In this way, the Palestinian leader wants to show that it is the American side that is the player who influences the Israeli authorities and pushes them to annex part of the West Bank. If it were not for this destructive role of Washington, the parties would probably have looked for other ways to solve the problem, ”the expert noted.
Middle East Institute expert Sergei Balmasov, in turn, noted that Palestine and Israel, in the current circumstances, "are set to escalate the conflict."
“However, the parties have different motives. Palestine seeks to protect its territories, while Israel wants to take advantage of the situation and patronage of the United States, ”he said in an interview with RT.
Right strong
According to analysts, in the case of the annexation of part of the West Bank of the Jordan River by Israel, the situation in the Middle East "will be even more destabilized."
“All this can lead to a strong escalation of the conflict. The Palestinian side will never recognize the Israeli annexation if ultimately it will be realized and will continue its struggle, because otherwise Palestine will lose this battle, ”Araik Stepanyan believes.
- Clashes on the Palestinian-Israeli border
- AFP
- © ABBAS MOMANI
The possible consequences of the annexation of the respective territories to Israel in mid-May were announced by King of Jordan Abdullah II in an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel.
“If Israel does annex the West Bank in July (part - RT ), then this will lead to a large-scale conflict with the Hashemite kingdom of Jordan,” said the King of Jordan.
He also noted that he did not want to “put forward threats and tense the situation,” but Amman was studying “all possible options.”
“We agree with many countries in Europe and the international community that the law of the strong should not be applied in the Middle East,” said Abdullah II.
Turkey has also criticized Israel’s plans to declare sovereignty over part of the West Bank. As the representative of the President of Turkey, Ibrahim Kalin, wrote on his Twitter, this will only increase tension in the region. He also called on Israel to stop illegal activities and said that Turkey, along with other countries, would support the Palestinian people.
However, as Araik Stepanyan notes, despite the calls of Jordan and Turkey, as well as the actions of the Palestinians, Israel and the United States "will continue to systematically implement their policies aimed at annexing part of the West Bank and generally implementing the plan proposed by Trump."
"The United States in this case is guided by the principle" who is stronger is right. " And Israel is trying to maximize the benefits of the situation. At the same time, Washington hopes that the Palestinian authorities themselves will surrender and sign a peace agreement, thereby crossing out everything that they fought for so long - the recognition by the international community of the right to those territories provided for by UN resolutions, ”the expert emphasized.
A similar point of view is shared by Sergei Balmasov. According to him, the actions of Israel and the United States "will not lead to anything good."
“The conflict will again enter an extremely active phase, there will be mutual strikes of even greater force. However, now that the world is in the grip of the coronavirus pandemic, such a fierce struggle will affect the overall security level in the Middle East, but will not turn into a disaster for the region, ”the analyst said.
At the same time, Stepanyan believes that Abbas’s commitment to the negotiation process and the resolution of problems within the legal framework gives a chance to resolve the conflict in the future. At the same time, Russia, as he said, as one of the participants in the "Middle East Quartet" could help in resolving the Palestinian-Israeli problem.
“The Russian Federation could act as an intermediary between the parties. In addition, the Russian Federation could contribute to the gathering of the UN Security Council meeting and the appointment of a new cycle of negotiations, ”the expert concluded.