Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas intends to declare the establishment of the Palestinian state, in one of the most important decisions he takes within a very short period of time, well-informed sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.
The sources confirmed that Abbas has informed Palestinian officials of the decision, and said he might make it at the next central council meeting, which is scheduled to be held after delivering his speech at the United Nations.
This month, Abbas will deliver a speech at the UN General Assembly where he will asked for full-fledged Palestinian membership and stress that the time has come for transferring the Palestinian Authority to a state.
The central council is set to meet in October at the latest.
The sources said that the president “intends to declare a Palestinian state under the occupation, after declaring that the Oslo Agreement is practically over.”
But Palestinian official Wassel Abu Youssef, a member of the Palestinian Liberation Organization's Executive Committee, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the issue had not yet matured.
“As the Central Committee has decided, the agreements must now be eliminated, and this will necessarily mean the end of Oslo,” he said. “The end of Oslo means the end of both the transitional period and the role of the PA and turning it into a state… But frankly, this needs additional time… and mechanisms for implementation.”
The Palestinian Central Council set up a plan to confront the United States, beginning with a request for full membership in the United Nations, then suspending recognition of Israel and abandoning all agreements with it.
In order for a country to become a member state in the United Nations, it should be supported by nine of the 15 UN Security Council members, provided that the veto is not used by one or more of the five permanent members.
Palestine received an observer status at the United Nations in 2012, when 138 countries voted in favor of the draft resolution at the time, while nine opposed it and 41 abstained from voting.
