WarSclerotic

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas warned ‎Saturday that he will not allow for two separate ‎entities to rule Palestinian lands, effectively ‎admitting that Ramallah was actively trying to ‎torpedo the Egyptian-brokered cease-fire talks ‎between Israel and Hamas.‎

Over the past few weeks, Egypt has been heading the indirect negotiations ‎‎between Israel and the terrorist group ruling the ‎Gaza Strip, in an ‎attempt to ‎prevent recent flare-ups on the Gaza ‎border from ‎escalating into war. ‎ ‎

Hamas ousted ‎Abbas’ Western-backed government from ‎the Gaza Strip ‎in a military coup in 2007. Since then, the ‎‎various efforts to reconcile the rival Palestinian ‎factions – the latest ‎brokered by Egypt in late 2017 ‎‎– have failed. ‎

The Palestinian Authority will not abide by any deal ‎‎inked between Israel and Hamas and Ramallah will ‎‎actively try to torpedo it, Abbas exclaimed. ‎‎

‎”Either we take responsibility for the West Bank and ‎Gaza under one state, one regime, one law, and one ‎weapon, or [Hamas] will take responsibility for it,” he ‎told the closing session of the Palestinian Central ‎Council, the Palestine Liberation Organization’s ‎second-highest decision-making body.‎

But according to Abbas, “Reconciliation [with Hamas] ‎does not mean a truce, cease-fire, or humanitarian ‎assistance. Reconciliation means that unity should ‎be reinstated. There is no state in Gaza and an ‎autonomy in the West Bank, and we will not accept ‎this. We will never accept the separation of Gaza ‎‎[from the West Bank].” ‎

He reiterated that any humanitarian aid or financial ‎support for the coastal enclave must go through his ‎own government, saying, “Who rehabilitated Gaza ‎after [the Israeli military campaign in] 2014? The ‎money was transferred to me and we rebuilt [Gaza]. ‎We rebuilt some 90% of the houses – they [Hamas] did ‎not rebuild even one house!”‎

Abbas further lambasted Israel for “violating all ‎the agreements including Oslo, which I signed [in ‎‎1993]. We benefitted, but they started to destroy ‎it. And they did destroy it. Therefore, Oslo will ‎not remain if the situation remains as it is.”‎

He reiterated that the Palestinian Authority would ‎not maintain ties with the U.S. unless it rescinds ‎its recognition of Jerusalem, announced in December ‎‎2017.‎

U.S. President Donald Trump’s move and the ‎subsequent relocation of the American Embassy in ‎Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem prompted Abbas to ‎declare that Ramallah no longer sees the U.S. as a ‎trustworthy partner in the Israeli-Palestinian peace ‎process, given Washington’s bias toward the Jewish ‎state. ‎

Palestinian Authority officials have not met with ‎‎senior White House adviser Jared Kushner or U.S. ‎‎Special Representative for International ‎‎Negotiations Jason Greenblatt since January. Both ‎‎Kushner and Greenblatt ‎have said they would prefer ‎‎to engage with Abbas on the long-awaited White House ‎peace plan but stressed that if he persists with ‎his rejectionism, the White House will work to ‎implement the plan without him. ‎

‎”Hope must remain with us that the state of ‎Palestinian will inevitably come and that the ‎Palestinian flag will be raised above Jerusalem,” he ‎said, Abbas said. ‎

He also endorsed “popular resistance,” saying that ‎‎”we must not underestimate popular resistance and ‎the land should remain aflame with popular ‎resistance.‎

Abbas informed the Central Committee that his ‎government plans to call on the U.N. General ‎Assembly to condemn Israel’s ‎”racist and fascist” nation-state law when it reconvenes in September.‎

Responding to Abbas’s threat, Israeli Ambassador to ‎the U.N. Danny Danon said that “every year, ahead of ‎the General Assembly, the Palestinians prepare some ‎propagandist action. This is a ridiculous move.”‎