Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas said ‎on Tuesday that it’s time to “open for review” all Palestinian past agreements with Israel, including ‎the 1993 Oslo Accords.‎

The Oslo Accords effectively created the ‎Palestinian Authority and are considered the benchmark ‎agreement aimed at bringing the Israeli-Palestinian ‎conflict to an end by means of territorial ‎concessions.‎

According to Hadashot evening news, Abbas’s remarks ‎followed yet another failed round of Hamas-‎Fatah reconciliation talks in Cairo.‎

Hamas, considered a terrorist group by the European Union, United States, Israel and several other countries, ousted Abbas’s Fatah-led government from the ‎Gaza Strip in a military coup in 2007, ‎‎effectively ‎splitting the Palestinian areas into two ‎political ‎‎entities. All efforts made over the past ‎decade to ‎‎promote a reconciliation between the rival ‎Palestinian factions—the latest ‎‎brokered by Egypt ‎in late 2017—have failed. ‎

According to the report, the reconciliation talks ‎have stalled to the point that Hamas officials have ‎become wary of losing the Palestinian public’s ‎support, especially given Abbas’s threat to impose ‎new sanctions on Gaza, which is already dealing with ‎a crippling economic crisis. ‎

Palestinian sources reported that were especially ‎discordant tones during Tuesday’s meeting in Cairo. ‎

Fatah officials have accused Hamas of “betraying the ‎Palestinian people” by agreeing to the construction ‎of an Israeli-controlled Palestinian-oriented port ‎in Cyprus—something that Hamas denies.‎

Hamas officials have also excoriated Abbas’s attempts to ‎torpedo Egypt’s efforts to broker a longer-term ‎cease-fire between the group and Israel, following ‎weeks of growing hostilities.‎

In a statement released on Tuesday, Hamas said the ‎measures taken to promote calm on the Gaza-Israel ‎border and end the maritime blockade on the coastal ‎enclave were garnering “a national consensus among ‎the Palestinian people and the Palestinian ‎resistance.‎”

‎“Our hand remains on the trigger, and we will protect the ‎Palestinian people,” the Islamist terrorist group ‎stressed. ‎

The statement, which made no mention of a deal with ‎Israel, lambasted the Palestinian Authority, saying, ‎‎“We are not bound by any political agreement or ‎international deal that relinquishes our land, ‎recognizes the occupier or destroys the national ‎project as you [Fatah] did.‎ We did not recognize the Zionist entity and pledge ‎to uphold security cooperation with them as you did, ‎at the expense of the sacrifice made by our people.”‎

Hamas spokesman Abd al-Latif al-Qanaoui dismissed ‎Fatah’s claims as “worthless,” saying, “Palestinian ‎Authority officials fool no one. The people still ‎support the resistance and we will keep protecting ‎the Palestinian people.”‎

Hamas also urged the Palestinian Authority to ‎revoke its recognition of Israel, cemented in the ‎Oslo Accords, as well as stop all security ‎coordination with Israel. ‎

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat slammed ‎Hamas for holding indirect ceasefire talks with ‎Israel, saying, “To talk about a ceasefire between ‎a Palestinian faction and Israel is a red line. Only ‎the Palestinian Authority is authorized to speak on ‎behalf of the people.”

A Fatah spokesman reiterated that the Ramallah has ‎‎“made it clear that no faction is allowed to ‎negotiate with Israel; only the Palestinian ‎Authority may hold discussions on matters relating ‎to the Palestinian people.”

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here