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Palestinian Authority President Dissolves PLC

President Mahmoud Abbas, January 06, 2016 (File Photo: Reuters)
President Mahmoud Abbas, January 06, 2016 (File Photo: Reuters)
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Palestinian Authority President Dissolves PLC

President Mahmoud Abbas, January 06, 2016 (File Photo: Reuters)
President Mahmoud Abbas, January 06, 2016 (File Photo: Reuters)

Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday that the Palestinian Constitutional Court issued a decree to dissolve the Palestine Legislative Council (PLC).

Speaking at the opening remarks of the leadership meeting in Ramallah, Abbas said the leadership is committed to the Court’s decree, which also calls for holding legislative elections in six months.

Dissolving the PLC is a blow to Hamas, which has been in control of the Council for 11 years, after it imposed its control on Gaza Strip.

On national reconciliation, the President noted that the initiative on reconciliation has not received any response until now. He expressed appreciation for the Egyptian efforts to end the division, stressing that “we will not renege on what we agreed on in advance on reconciliation.”

“We do not accept that Hamas is accused of terrorism, it is part of the Palestinian people, but we have differences with it (Hamas) and this is a Palestinian issue.”

Abbas accused Hamas of carrying out a special project in Gaza, referring to a project to "establish a state in Gaza and autonomy in the West Bank." He also accused Hamas of provoking chaos in the West Bank.

"The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, sends them the money and they send messengers in the West Bank, and we pay the price," he said.

The President also attacked the United States, reiterating that the authority said “no..and we will continue to say “no” to America and others.”

He warned that if Jerusalem is gone, there will be nothing left to talk about, asserting that Palestinians will “not stay silent and we will not accept that.”

“We will not sell Jerusalem, which will remain the eternal capital of the Palestinian people. We will continue to demand international protection of our people in international forums,” Abbas added.

He continued, “We will not allow the continuation of Israeli aggression, and we will not wait for what the United States claims to offer… We are still on our position rejecting dialogue with the US administration as a biased party.”

The President stressed that all attempts to tamper with Palestinian security will not deter the authority from confronting the “deal of the century.”

He informed the meeting that he had instructed Palestine's representative at the United Nations Riyad Mansour to submit applications for full membership and “provide international protection for our people.”

"Every month we will apply to the Security Council despite the US veto," he said.

Dissolving the Legislative Council was discussed at the last meeting of the Palestinian Central Council at the end of October, as one of the measures taken by the Authority against Hamas for not committing to the reconciliation.

Abbas's announcement to dissolve the Council came after the failure of the recent round of talks in Cairo.

After the failed talks, Fatah movement announced that it was taking decisions to undermine the “coup” authority in Gaza, in response to what it called “Hamas’ conditions” for reconciliation.

During its 30th session, the Central Council put the issue of "dissolving the Legislative Council" as an emergency item on the agenda following a recommendation by Fatah's Revolutionary Council.

The Revolutionary Council has established that the Central Council formed the National Authority in 1993. The Revolutionary Council unanimously recommended that "the Central Council dissolve the Legislative Council and call for general elections within a year.

The Palestinian law stipulates that the President of the Legislative Council will temporary be the Presidency of the Authority, in the event of any compulsory absence of the President for a period not exceeding 60 days during which presidential elections shall be held.

In 2004, when former President Yasser Arafat died, he was replaced by his successor, Rawhi Fattouh, before Palestinians elected Mahmoud Abbas.

However, now there is a legal and political dispute between Fatah and Hamas over the dissolved Legislative Council and its presidency. Hamas is not expected to accept Abbas's decision.

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Arab World

Hamas Says Weapons Are 'Legitimate Right'

A Palestinian amputee walks in Yafa street among the destroyed Al Mahata mosque and destroyed buildings, in Al Tuffah neighborhood, east of Gaza City, 13 December 2025, near the yellow line amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
A Palestinian amputee walks in Yafa street among the destroyed Al Mahata mosque and destroyed buildings, in Al Tuffah neighborhood, east of Gaza City, 13 December 2025, near the yellow line amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
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Hamas Says Weapons Are 'Legitimate Right'

A Palestinian amputee walks in Yafa street among the destroyed Al Mahata mosque and destroyed buildings, in Al Tuffah neighborhood, east of Gaza City, 13 December 2025, near the yellow line amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
A Palestinian amputee walks in Yafa street among the destroyed Al Mahata mosque and destroyed buildings, in Al Tuffah neighborhood, east of Gaza City, 13 December 2025, near the yellow line amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER

Hamas' Gaza chief Khalil al-Hayya said on Sunday that the group had a "legitimate right" to hold weapons and that any proposal for the next phases of the Gaza ceasefire must uphold that right.

"Resistance and its weapons are a legitimate right guaranteed by international law and are linked to the establishment of a Palestinian state," said al-Hayya in a televised address on the militant group's Al-Aqsa TV.

"We are open to studying any proposals that preserve this right while guaranteeing the establishment of a Palestinian state."

Al-Hayya also confirmed that the head of the group's weapons production was killed in an Israeli strike in the Gaza Strip the day before.

"The Palestinian people are currently going through difficult times and suffering greatly... with the martyrdom of more than 70,000 people, the latest of whom was the mujahid commander Raed Saad and his companions."

Israel announced on Saturday that it had killed Saad, describing him as "one of the architects" of the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.

It was the highest-profile assassination of a senior Hamas figure since the Gaza ceasefire deal came into effect in October this year.

The US-sponsored ceasefire remains fragile as Israel and Hamas accuse each other almost daily of violations.

The agreement is composed of three phases. In the first phase of the deal, Palestinian militants committed to releasing the remaining 48 living and dead captives held in the territory.

So far they have released all of the hostages except for one body.

Under the second phase Israeli troops would further withdraw from their positions in Gaza and be replaced by an international stabilization force, while Hamas would lay down its weapons.

Israel has repeatedly insisted Hamas "will be disarmed.”

The third phase includes the reconstruction of the vast areas of Gaza levelled by Israel's retaliatory military campaign.

Arab World

Algeria’s Kabylie Unites against MAK Separatist Project

Activists rally in Bejaia against separatist project, private accounts
Activists rally in Bejaia against separatist project, private accounts
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Algeria’s Kabylie Unites against MAK Separatist Project

Activists rally in Bejaia against separatist project, private accounts
Activists rally in Bejaia against separatist project, private accounts

Algeria’s Kabylie region is witnessing unusual momentum and activity, marked by initiatives opposing a separatist group’s plan to proclaim an “Independent State of Kabylie” on Sunday in France.

The move is one chapter in ongoing tensions with Algeria, which accuses Paris of “harboring enemies of its territorial unity.”

In Bejaia province, about 250 km east of Algiers and the largest city in Kabylie, residents and local groups have launched a series of initiatives in recent days to express their rejection of any proposal that undermines national unity.

The national flag has been widely hung from the facades of homes and shops, while taxis and public and private transport vehicles have also been decorated with the flag, creating a scene dominated by national colors across the city’s streets and neighborhoods.

Rejecting any threat to national unity

Coinciding with the anniversary of demonstrations held in 1960 during Algeria’s war of independence from France from 1954 to 1962, the Bejaia Directorate of Youth and Sports organized a convoy of cars adorned with national flags on Thursday.

The convoy set off from the city center and passed through several streets and villages under the slogan “Algeria is one and united,” under the supervision of local authorities.

In the same context, a real estate developer raised the national flag on the main facade of one of the city’s largest residential complexes, a 28-story building, in a move that drew positive reactions from residents and was seen as another expression of attachment to national symbols.

Bejaia’s neighborhoods have also witnessed a form of symbolic competition through the display of flags of varying sizes.

A large flag was raised in November 1, 1954 Square, with announcements of further initiatives to unfurl a massive flag atop Mount Gouraya, the city’s most prominent tourist landmark, with the participation of several local associations.

Bejaia University students issued a statement rejecting the separatist project carried by the Movement for the Self Determination of Kabylie, known by its French acronym MAK.

They reaffirmed their commitment to “the unity and sovereignty of Algeria” and called for confronting what they described as “narratives that undermine national cohesion,” referring to the planned declaration of an “Independent State of Kabylie,” which MAK says it will announce on Sunday in Paris under the leadership of its head, Ferhat Mehenni, who is wanted in Algeria on terrorism charges.

In the same vein, a number of intellectuals and activists in Bejaia expressed similar positions through statements and comments, while a popular gathering is expected to be held near the House of Culture on Sunday to voice opposition to the move.

The local journalists’ organization in Bejaia also announced its rejection of “any plan targeting the country’s unity,” stressing in a statement that “preserving a unified Algeria is a collective responsibility that is not open to compromise.”

Calls to confront MAK

Abdelkader Bengrina, head of the pro-government National Construction Movement party, said on Saturday during a meeting with party officials that “what this terrorist movement is attempting today is a desperate effort to turn back the clock and revive colonial ambitions that were buried decades ago.”

He added that “their determination to declare the independence of Kabylie from Algeria is nothing more than a new chapter in a farcical play aimed at testing the pulse of the Algerian nation and dragging the country into chaos.”

“We are fully confident that our security forces will strike with an iron fist against the plans of this movement and its operational cells wherever they exist, within the framework of the law,” he said.

Bengrina implicitly accused France of hosting separatists and their project, saying that “some European capitals are crying foul these days when one of their agents is exposed while posing as a tourist, even though his mission was to promote separatist discourse and encourage chaos.”

He was referring to French journalist Christophe Gleizes, who was sentenced by a court in Tizi Ouzou to seven years in prison on charges of “maintaining links with a leader of the Movement for the Self Determination of Kabylie.”

By contrast, Mehenni said in comments to the media in France, where he lives as a political refugee, that “there is no turning back,” arguing that “the policies pursued by Algeria in Kabylie since 1963 make independence the only solution.”

The movement was founded in 2001 following deadly clashes between security forces and segments of the Kabylie population that left 160 people dead.

Initially advocating autonomy, it later shifted toward full secession.

In May 2021, Algerian authorities designated the group a “terrorist organization,” accusing its members of planning violent acts and receiving foreign funding.

The movement relies heavily on emigrants originating from Kabylie, particularly in France and North America, but has little presence inside Algeria.

Authorities have arrested many of its members in the three Kabylie provinces of Tizi Ouzou, Bejaia and Bouira, all east of the capital, including MAK’s representative in the region, Bouaziz Ait Chebib.

Deep rooted political forces in the region have strongly rejected the separatist step, led by the Socialist Forces Front, which condemned what it described as “a separatist project that undermines Algeria’s national unity.”

Arab World

Libya’s Sabratha on Alert after Killing of Militia Figure ‘Al-Amo’

Members of the Apparatus for Combating Security Threats (file photo)
Members of the Apparatus for Combating Security Threats (file photo)
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Libya’s Sabratha on Alert after Killing of Militia Figure ‘Al-Amo’

Members of the Apparatus for Combating Security Threats (file photo)
Members of the Apparatus for Combating Security Threats (file photo)

Security forces fanned out across the coastal city of Sabratha, 70 km west of Tripoli, after militia leader Ahmed al-Dabbashi, known as al-Amo, was killed during a raid, triggering clashes that left two members of a state security body dead, residents and officials said.

Witnesses reported a heavy security presence across the Libyan city on Saturday, as the Apparatus for Combating Security Threats, a formation aligned with the Government of National Unity, said it had established control over Sabratha after neutralizing al-Amo.

The apparatus said late on Friday that two members of its western branch died of their wounds after what it described as an attack by criminal groups loyal to al-Amo near a traffic light by the city hospital. It said the deaths would be recorded in its roll of military honor, and vowed to keep pursuing anyone it deems a threat to Libya’s security.

Earlier, the apparatus said al-Amo was killed when its units stormed a hideout used by his network. It said his brother, Saleh al-Dabbashi, was arrested and that six of its personnel were seriously wounded and taken to intensive care.

A Libyan security source, speaking to local media on condition of anonymity, said the Defense Ministry in the Tripoli-based government was reviewing the situation after losing influence in several districts from Janzour in the east to the outskirts of Ajilat in the west.

The source accused the ministry of having previously backed and directed al-Amo to tie down forces from the nearby city of Zawiya on Sabratha's western flank. The Defense Ministry did not immediately comment.

Although the apparatus is an official body within the unity government, it operates with a degree of autonomy in the field, putting it in frequent friction with Defense Ministry-aligned formations in western Libya. The apparatus’s deputy chief is Mohamed Bahroun, known as “al-Far,” a powerful figure in the west.

Strategic coastal hub

Sabratha sits on the main coastal highway that runs from the Tunisian border through western towns to Zawiya and Janzour on the approaches to Tripoli.

Control of the city confers leverage over a vital overland supply route between Tunisia and the capital, and helps block any western advance toward Tripoli.

Sabratha also offers access to a small port and lies close to energy infrastructure, including the strategic Mellitah oil and gas complex.

Since 2014, the city has been a flashpoint for competing authorities in Tripoli and their allied local forces, as well as factions aligned with eastern-based rivals.

It has seen repeated bouts of fighting and shifts in control, most dramatically in 2016 when ISIS briefly seized the city before being driven out with US air support. The episode cemented Sabratha’s weight in both local and international security calculations.

In recent years Sabratha has become a center of gravity for the Apparatus for Combating Security Threats, which reports to the Interior Ministry. That presence has fueled regular friction with Defense Ministry units and long-standing local militias.

Power balance shifts

Analysts say the killing of al-Amo and the apparatus’s subsequent sweep through the city mark a sharp turn in the local balance of power, strengthening the apparatus while dealing a blow to Prime Minister Abdul Hamid al-Dbeibah’s government west of the capital.

The developments came as al-Dbeibah inaugurated Libya’s National Museum in Tripoli on Friday evening at an event attended by foreign diplomats, describing the museum as a repository of national memory and a legacy for future generations.

Al-Dabbashi, long wanted internationally on allegations of human trafficking and narcotics smuggling, retained loyalists in and around Sabratha despite periodic crackdowns.

His death, the arrest of his brother, and the deployment of state units across key intersections suggest an effort by the apparatus to consolidate control and deter reprisals.

The situation in Sabratha remained tense on Saturday, residents said, with security units maintaining checkpoints and patrols along the coastal road and within the city.