Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued orders to his security services to “reduce the level of security coordination” with the Israeli army in the West Bank to “the required minimum”, as part of a series of decisions taken by the leadership to end agreements signed with Israel.
The opposition factions, led by Hamas, welcomed the decision and called for more severe measures, leading to a withdrawal from the Oslo Accords.
This came in response to the demolition of Palestinian homes in areas under the control of the Palestinian Authority near Jerusalem, in addition to the cessation of the transfer of tax revenues in favor of the PA, which put it in a financial crisis.
Abbas made the announcement following an emergency meeting held at the presidential headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Thursday.
“The Israeli occupation authority has decided to ignore all its obligations in accordance with the agreements signed with it. It continues to kill Palestinian citizens, arrest them, demolish their houses and confiscate their lands,” Abbas said during the meeting.
“We will not coexist with the occupation,” he said, reiterating his rejection to the US peace plan – known as the deal of the century – stressing that Palestine and Jerusalem were “not for sale and bargain.”
Israel downplayed the Palestinian position. Israeli Minister of Economy and Industry Eli Cohen, a member of the security cabinet, said that Abbas was not already committed to the agreements, which he said were suspended.
Hamas, for its part, welcomed the decision as “a step in the right direction.”
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine issued a statement in which it also hailed Abbas’ decisions, calling for the Palestinian withdrawal from the Oslo Accords.
