Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday said the United States is responsible for Israeli incursions into Palestinian towns in Judea and Samaria.
The P.A.’s Wafa news agency report quoted Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for the presidency, to that effect after a Palestinian terrorist was killed and another man was critically wounded during a raid by Israeli forces in the Nur Shams camp near Tulkarm in Samaria on Tuesday morning.
The P.A. Health Ministry said the slain gunman was Ayed Abu Harb, 21. The local wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group claimed him as a member.
Israeli forces entered the camp to destroy ready-to-use explosive devices in a building used as a headquarters for local terrorists. IDF combat engineers destroyed the cache of explosives.
“The continuation of these aggressive policies against our people and our land, and the continued storming of Al-Aqsa mosque [i.e., the Temple Mount] by Jewish extremists under the protection of the occupation army, in addition to the settlers’ terrorism and attacks on our people and other unilateral measures will have very dangerous repercussions for everyone,” Abu Rudeineh said.
“The U.S. must intervene immediately to stop the ongoing Israeli aggression, and not be content with issuing statements that do not change anything on the ground,” he said. “The situation is on the verge of exploding as a result of the dangerous Israeli escalation.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken telephoned Abbas on Monday, Wafa reported.
Among other demands, Abbas called on the United States “to accept the State of Palestine’s endeavor to obtain full membership in the U.N. by a Security Council decision, and to end all sanctions imposed on the Palestinians due to U.S. laws and build normal relations between the U.S. administration and the State of Palestine, including reopening the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem and an office for Palestine in Washington, and restoring the direct aid program.”