PALESTINE ‘NO LONGER BOUND’ BY AGREEMENTS WITH ISRAEL

New York, 17 Dhulhijjah 1436/1 October 2015 (MINA) – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has warned that the Palestinian Authority (PA) can no longer be bound by agreements with Israel, so long as the latter refuses to commit to them.

Speaking on Wednesday at the UN General Assembly in New York, Abbas declared that “as long as Israel refuses to commit to the agreements signed with us, they leave us no choice but to insist that we will not remain the only ones committed to the implementation of these agreements”.

Calling the status quo in the occupied Palestinian territory unsustainable, he also said that Israel must assume its full responsibility as an occupying power under international law. Aljazeera quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

More of a warning than a declaration, Abbas, who has headed the PA since 2005, ostensibly left himself wiggle room by using vague wording and adding a number of caveats.

Although he did not provide a timeline for severing the PA’s many agreements with Israel, Abbas said he would start implementing by “peaceful and legal means”.

Created as a result of the 1993 Oslo Accords agreement between the Palestine Liberation Organisation and Israel, the PA will continue to function and work toward forging a unity government with the Gaza-based Hamas authority, Abbas said. (T/P008/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)