Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has allegedly refused to accept a telephone call from US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to discuss Israel’s annexation plan, Israeli General Radio reported on Sunday.
According to Al Quds Al Araby, the intended call came amidst ongoing US-Israeli discussions about the annexation of the occupied Palestinian land.
According to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the annexation process will start on July 1. The Israeli radio station said that Abbas rejected the call after intensified contacts to arrange it.
#Belgium Urges #Sanctions against #Israel if it Annexes #WestBank https://t.co/KrXwH7b50W via @PalestineChron pic.twitter.com/wnkL2yM0lm
— @palestinechron (@PalestineChron) June 27, 2020
Meanwhile, Palestinian officials are said to have sent messages to Israel saying that the PA has prepared an inventory of its arms and ammunition to hand over to the occupation state when it also hands over the full responsibility for security in the occupied West Bank.
Al Quds Al Araby also noted that General Radio expects the PLO to announce the dissolution of the PA and the Palestinian government.
Commentators wonder if the threats to end security coordination with Israel and dissolve the PA are real, or just word games to persuade Israel to scrap its annexation plan.
The #Palestine Chronicle Examines #Israeli Media Response to #Abbas’s Decision to Cancel All Agreements https://t.co/qqW2xqQ9I3 via @PalestineChron pic.twitter.com/lSIJQgKGgv
— @palestinechron (@PalestineChron) June 4, 2020
“The painful truth is that the Palestinian Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas has already ceased to exist as a political body that holds much sway or relevance, either to the Palestinian people or to Abbas’ former benefactors, namely the Israeli and the U.S. governments,” Palestinian journalist and editor of The Palestine Chronicle Ramzy Baroud wrote in a recent article.
“Sadly, this is the current strategy of the Palestinian leadership: a combination of threats, counter-proposals and such, hoping Washington and Tel Aviv will agree to return to a by-gone era,” Baroud added.
(Palestine Chronicle, MEMO, Social Media)
