Palestine’s Abbas suspends ALL agreements with Israel

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has announced that all standing agreements with the state of Israel will be suspended indefinitely, following the bulldozing of homes in the occupied West Bank.

President Abbas announced the decision on Thursday afternoon, and said it would take effect by Friday. The move comes in response to the Israeli government’s demolition of homes in Wadi Hummus, a Palestinian community in southeast Jerusalem.

“We will not obey the dictatorship and reject attempts to impose accomplished facts, particularly in East Jerusalem,” Abbas said, following a meeting with senior Palestinian leadership in Ramallah, according to the WAFA news agency.

Palestine and East Jerusalem cannot be a subject of bargaining.

“The hands of the Palestinians are still stretched out towards a just and comprehensive peace, … but this does not mean that we are ready to capitulate and coexist with the occupation,” he added.

Tel Aviv recently announced plans to clear the way for new settlements in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem. The move was slammed by the European Union as “an obstacle to peace” which “continues to undermine the possibility of a viable two state solution.”

Moreover, during his latest bid for the prime ministership, Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “extend sovereignty” over, or annex, the existing settlements in the West Bank. That promise is reportedly reflected in Washington’s peace plan, dubbed in the media the “deal of the century” even though its contents have not yet been revealed. Reports claim it would offer to formally place the settlements under Israeli legal control as part of the deal, a condition vocally contested by the Palestinians.

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