Today, Wednesday, the Central Council of the Palestine Liberation Organization decided to suspend recognition of Israel and terminate the Palestinian Authority's obligations in all agreements with it, until it recognizes a Palestinian state on the borders of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The decision of the Council came in a statement issued at the conclusion of its meetings in the city of Ramallah in the central occupied West Bank, which was read by Azzam Al-Ahmad, a member of the Executive Committee of the Liberation Organization, and broadcast by the official Palestine TV.

Al-Ahmad said that the council decides to end the commitments of the Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority to all agreements with the occupying authority - foremost of which is the recognition of the "State of Israel" - until it recognizes a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and stops settlements.

He added that the council also decided to stop security coordination in its various forms.

The Central Council assigned the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization to work on developing appropriate mechanisms to implement its decisions, in accordance with the supreme national interest of the Palestinian people.

Decisions not implemented

The Central Council had previously taken these decisions in its meetings in October 2018, and they have not been implemented since then.

Palestinian experts say that assigning the Executive Committee of the Liberation Organization to develop mechanisms to implement these decisions renders them ineffective.

The Central Council is a permanent body emanating from the Palestinian National Council (the highest legislative body) of the PLO, and is vested with the powers of the Council.

Azzam Al-Ahmad, member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (Al-Jazeera)

The Palestinian Central Council renewed its rejection of "economic peace" with Israel or the project to reduce the conflict and confidence-building measures that offer an alternative to a just and comprehensive peace.

The Council called on the administration of US President Joe Biden to fulfill its commitments regarding the commitment to the two-state solution, to stop the Israeli settlement expansion and forced displacement of residents from the occupied city of Jerusalem, and to preserve the historical situation in Al-Aqsa Mosque. It also urged the Biden administration to reopen the US Consulate in East Jerusalem and reopen The office of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Washington.

The Council affirmed the call for the formation of a Palestinian national unity government that "complies with the resolutions of international legitimacy and the Palestinian national programme." It also stressed the need to hold comprehensive elections in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, and to break Israel's decision not to hold them in Jerusalem.

boycott and denounce

Four Palestinian factions from within the Liberation Organization (which does not include Hamas and Islamic Jihad) boycotted the Central Council meetings, namely: the Popular Front, the National Initiative Party, the Popular Front-General Command, and the Vanguards of the Popular Liberation Party, justifying that the call for the meetings took place without consensus. National.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad also criticized the holding of the Central Council meetings.

Palestinian factions accuse Fatah movement of excluding the Palestinian people and not taking real steps to end the internal division, which the movement denies.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has held the positions of Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Liberation Organization, President of the Palestinian Authority, and Chairman of the Fatah Movement since 2004, succeeding the late leader Yasser Arafat, who held the three positions.

Since 2007, the Palestinian arena has been suffering from a political and geographical division, as Hamas controls the Gaza Strip, while the West Bank is administered by a Palestinian government formed by Abbas' Fatah movement.