Mahmoud Abbas ends security agreement with Israel, US

Mahmoud Abbas, the the Palestinian leader, has ended all security cooperation agreements with Israel and the United States.

Abbas disclosed this on Tuesday May 19, 2020, in response to Israel’s plan to annex parts of the West Bank which he said would compromise any chances for peace in Mideast.

“The Palestine Liberation Organization and the state of Palestine are absolved, as of today, of all the agreements and understandings with the American and Israeli governments and of all the commitments based on these understandings and agreements, including the security ones,” Abbas said in a statement.

“The Israeli occupation authority, as of today, has to shoulder all responsibilities and obligations in front of the international community as an occupying power over the territory of the occupied state of Palestine, with all its consequences and repercussions based on international law and international humanitarian law,” he added.

Abbas’ declaration came after Israel formed a new government with which Trump administration is committed to annexing some areas of the West Bank.

After a meeting of the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah, Abbas said plan to annex any parts of the occupied West Bank would jeopardize chances for a two-state solution.

The new threat issued on Tuesday remains unclear whether or not it would come into effect given that Abbas has issued this kind of threat before without following through.

For example, in 2018, The PLO voted to bring to an end the cooperation with Israel and the US leaving the task of implementing the plan to Abbas.

Passing a remark on the latest threat from the Palestinian leader, the president of the US/Middle East Project, Daniel Levy, said, “To pass the bar of credibility as a threat, to show this is not the same as the umpteen threats that they’ve previously issued of a similar nature and that they never acted on, the bar is very high.”

“We will actually have to see Palestinian action,” he added.

Speaking about Israel’s annexation plans, Zaha Hassan, a human rights lawyer and visiting fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said, “I do think this moment is qualitatively different than any other moment in the past, and that’s because Israel does look like it is prepared to annex some part of the West Bank.”

“Not only is there nobody to stop Israel from moving forward, but also the US is a partner to this plan,” she added.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Turkish presidential spokesperson, Ibrahim Kalin condemned Israeli’s West Bank annexation plan and urged the international community to take a stand.

“We reject Israel’s plan to annex the West Bank and call for the world to take a stand against it. Occupation and annexation is a crime,” kalin said in a tweet.

King Abdullah of Jordan equally warned of consequence of the annexation saying it would lead to massive conflict between Israel and his country and that it could comprise their 1994 peace treaty.

As it stands, Abbas’ declaration does not state what actions would be taken by the Palestinian forces if Israeli soldiers enter any of the Palestinian areas.

It also remains unclear what the declaration would mean for Palestinian movement around the West Bank especially parts of (Area A) administered by Palestinian Authority, the jointly administered area B, and area C which is Israeli settlement zones.