Palestine has ended all agreements and understandings with the US and Israel. The announcement comes as the US-backed annexation of the West Bank by Israel nears. The Palestinian leader believes that Israeli annexation plans would end all chances for peace.
“The Palestine Liberation Organization 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 obligations based on these understandings and agreements, including security ones,” Palestinian news agency Wafa cited Abbas as saying at an emergency meeting.
After the meeting with top Palestinian leaders in Ramallah, President Abbas said that annexation of the West Bank threatens a two-state solution. While the PLO ended ties with the US and Israel in 2018, it was left up to Abbas to implement this decision.
As of now, it remains unclear what the declaration would mean in practice especially in terms of Palestinian security apparatus.
The 85-year-old said that Israel would be responsible for the security and obligations as it remains the occupying power over the occupied land of Palestine. The United States, as a “primary partner with the Israeli occupation government,” will be “fully responsible for the oppression of the Palestinian people,” Abbas added. Palestine had rejected the Peace treaty soon after it was announced by the US.
Tension is building up in the region as the Israeli annexations plan nears. On Sunday, Benyamin Nethanyahu swore in the new government under a sharing agreement with former rival Benny Gantz.
According to reports, the government can start discussing annexation plans for the West Bank and Jordan Valley from July 2020.
King Abdullah II of Jordan had earlier threatened Israel with ‘massive conflict’ if the government chose to move ahead with the annexation. The monarch even put the Israel-Jordan peace treaty on the line.
The European Union also confirmed that it was taking diplomatic measures to deter Israeli annexation of the West Bank and the United Kingdom also maintained its position for a two-state solution.
The West Bank annexation is primarily backed by the Donald Trump Administration under the Middle East Peace plan. The controversial plan gives a green light for Israel to annex about a third of the occupied West Bank, leaving the Palestinians with heavily conditioned statehood in scattered territorial enclaves surrounded by Israel.
Israeli ambassador to the US, Ron Dermer, is urging annexation before the U.S. elections in December. He believes that both Israel and the US have a window of opportunity because come November Joe Biden may be sworn in and make a complete U-turn from the current American position.
As July nears, many questions remain unanswered. Annexation would surely draw a reaction, even a violent one from Palestinians or Iran and lead to more chaos and instability in the region. Experts talking to EurAsian Times state that it could be a prelude to an Iran-Israel War.
