Middle East Monitor  /  February 21, 2023

Hamas yesterday condemned the Palestinian Authority (PA)’s decision to withdraw a bill planned to be proposed to the UN Security Council against illegal Jewish settlement.

“The PA’s withdrawal of the anti-settlement bill is considered a retreat for unguaranteed gains,” member of Hamas’ Political Bureau Basem Naim said in a statement.

“The PA cancelled an important legal step and reinstated security cooperation in return for tactical measures offered by the enemy – freezing settlement until the end of Ramadan.”

Naim called for national action to remove the PA’s leadership and replace it with one agreed upon by national consensus.

“It is time to reach a national agreement based on a national strategy, and rebuild the Palestinian political system based on goals to achieve the freedom, independence and return ambitions,” he said.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) yesterday informed the UNSC of its decision to no longer call for a vote on a draft resolution against Israel’s expansion of illegal settlements, agreeing with the Palestinian Authority (PA) to drop the opposition following intervention by the United States.

According to anonymous Israeli and US officials, if PA President Mahmoud Abbas promised not to turn to the United Nations to oppose Israel and its decision, Tel Aviv would freeze the settlement expansion plans it had announced. As part of the alleged deal, Israel also reportedly agreed to temporarily suspend unilateral actions in the occupied West Bank, such as the announcement of new settlement buildings for several months.

The demolitions of Palestinian homes and Palestinian evictions will also be suspended for a few months, and the number of Israeli military raids in Palestinian cities and camps will decrease.

Israel apparently also agreed to several economic steps to increase Palestinian tax revenues by over $60 million a year, and the PA agreed to start implementing the security plan put forward by the US to restore its control over the West Bank cities of Jenin and Nablus, as well as to start talks on resuming security coordination with Tel Aviv.

An official in the Israeli Prime Minister’s office, however, has denied the significance of the deal, asserting: “There are no understandings. We finished all the building plans [for settlements] last week and had no intention of convening the committee to approve new ones in the next three months, anyway.”

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Islamic Jihad slams PA’s submission to US pressure

Middle East Monitor  /  February 21, 2023

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement has criticized the Palestinian Authority’s submission to American pressure and its decision to agree to withdraw a UN vote scheduled yesterday on a draft resolution against the expansion of Israel’s illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Islamic Jihad spokesman, Tariq Selmi, said experiences have shown that bowing to US pressure and the settlement project with the Israeli occupation has given Tel Aviv many opportunities to implement its Judaization schemes and swallow Palestinian land.

“The settlement deals and any political understandings that are being talked about will not benefit the Palestinian people, and all previous facts have proven that the [Israeli] occupation takes these understandings as a cover to pass settlement annexation schemes and evade responsibility for its crimes and aggression,” he added in remarks to Safa news agency.

Selmi explained that the American pressure aims to pass the Israeli settlement plans and to disrupt any international move to condemn and reject them, stressing that responding to these pressures represents a major setback and political deviation and damages the Palestinian supreme national interests.

He pointed out that the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA)’s submission to American pressure serves the normalization agendas and projects which the Israeli government seeks to expand.

Yesterday, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) informed the United Nations Security Council of its decision to withdraw its backing for a vote on a draft resolution against the expansion of Israel’s illegal settlements, following intervention by the United States.

According to anonymous Israeli and US officials, if PA President Mahmoud Abbas promised not to turn to the United Nations to oppose Israel and its decision, Tel Aviv would freeze the plans it had announced. As part of the alleged deal, Israel also reportedly agreed to temporarily suspend unilateral actions in the occupied West Bank, such as the announcement of new settlement buildings for several months.

The demolitions of Palestinian homes and Palestinian evictions will also be suspended for a few months, and the number of Israeli military raids in Palestinian cities and camps will decrease.

Israel apparently also agreed to several economic steps to increase Palestinian tax revenues by over $60 million a year, and the PA agreed to start implementing the security plan put forward by the US to restore its control over the West Bank cities of Jenin and Nablus, as well as to start talks on resuming security coordination with Tel Aviv.

An official in the Israeli Prime Minister’s office, however, has denied the significance of the deal, asserting: “There are no understandings. We finished all the building plans [for settlements] last week and had no intention of convening the committee to approve new ones in the next three months, anyway.”