The Palestinian Authority on Saturday accused Israel of waging all-out war on Palestinians after the killing of four Palestinians in clashes with the IDF over the weekend.
“Our Palestinian people are facing an all-out war that did not stop for a single moment,” said PA presidential spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudaineh.
He called on the US administration to fulfill its promises “to stop all unilateral measures and to exert serious pressure on Israel to stop its comprehensive war against our Palestinian people before it is too late.”
Abu Rudaineh said that Israel was “delusional” if it believed that its “crimes” would bring security and stability.
Israel, he added, “must be aware that our steadfast people will remain committed to their rights and to defending their land and holy sites at all costs.”
The PA official hinted that the Palestinians would implement previous resolutions of the PLO to halt security coordination with Israel and suspend all signed agreements between the two sides.
Abu Rudaineh also threatened that the Palestinians would proceed with their efforts to prosecute Israel before the International Criminal Court and other international forums.
He warned that the continuation of the escalation would push matters towards “a comprehensive explosion, which will have devastating consequences for all.”
On Friday, PA President Mahmoud Abbas met with senior Palestinian officials in Ramallah and discussed with them the possibility of implementing the resolutions of the Palestinian Central Council (PCC).
Earlier this year, the PCC affirmed the suspension of the recognition of Israel until it recognizes a Palestinian state on the pre-1967 lines, with east Jerusalem as its capital, and halts settlement activity. The council also voted in favor of ending security coordination with Israel in all its forms.
“Our Palestinian people are facing an all-out war that did not stop for a single moment.”
PA presidential spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudaineh
This was not the first time that the PLO council and other key decision-making bodies had recommended severing all ties with Israel, as a similar resolution was passed by the PCC in 2018.
Is Abbas's control slipping?
Abbas and the PA leadership have been criticized by their political opponents for failing to implement the resolutions.
PLO Executive Committee members who met in Ramallah on Thursday renewed their call to cut all relations with Israel.
After the meeting, which was chaired by Abbas, the committee announced that I would “move forward with the implementation of the decisions of the PCC in light of the escalation of the Israeli aggression and is daily crimes against our people.”
Hamas also accused Israel of waging an all-out war on the Palestinians and called for stepping up the “resistance” attacks in the West Bank. Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said that the Palestinian “struggle will continue until the end of the occupation.”
Husam Badran, another Hamas official, said that neither Israel nor the PA would be able to stop the “resistance” activities of the Palestinians in the West Bank. Badran, in an interview with the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV, said he expected that Palestinian attacks in the West Bank would escalate. “Our people are united behind the resistance,” he added.”
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad organization praised the Palestinians in the West Bank for carrying out attacks on IDF soldiers and Jewish settlers. “The escalation of killings and arrests against our people is evidence of the extent of [Israel’s] confusion,” the organization said in a statement. “We congratulate the resistance fighters who taught the occupation harsh lessons.”