‘Palestine no longer committed to agreements with Israel’

Hubli clashes(File Photo: IANS)


Palestine on Thursday informed Israel that it was no longer committed to signed agreements emanating from the Oslo Accords, according to civil affairs minister

Hussein al-Sheikh said, “The Palestinian Authority is in the dissolution of the agreements with the Israeli side emanating from the Oslo agreement”.

“Israel was informed that the Palestinian Authority is no longer bound by bilateral agreements.”

In a series of tweets, al-Shaikh said that Palestinian Present Mahmoud Abbas was going to deliver a “historic speech” before the League of Arab states in Cairo on Saturday.

“The real test for the Arab position will be at the foreign ministers’ meeting in Cairo, and we hope the Arab and Islamic nations will act as a supporting force for the Palestinian position,” he further tweeted.

Al-Shaikh, a close aide of Abbas, is in charge of communication with the Israeli side through the civil affairs commission he heads.

The remarks come as part of a reaction to the announcement of the US peace plan, that was rejected by the Palestinians.

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump presented his long-awaited Middle East peace plan, envisaging a two-state solution but keeping Jerusalem as Israel’s undivided capital.

Announcing the plan from the White House with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu standing next to him, Trump said his plan “could be the last opportunity” for Palestinians, which, he said, “are in poverty and violence, exploited by those seeking to use them as pawns to advance terrorism and extremism”.

The Palestinians have already rejected the proposal, accusing Trump of being biased in favour of Israel as he has adopted policies that bolster Israel at their expense.

Under the plan, Jerusalem will remain Israel’s “undivided capital,” Trump said, raising eyebrows after he had said that the capital of the Palestinian state would be in “eastern Jerusalem,” where the United States would “proudly open an embassy.”

The plan builds on a 30-page economic plan for the West Bank and Gaza that was unveiled last June and which the Palestinians have also rejected.