Erekat Says CIA Information-Sharing Halted

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat looks on during a news conference following his meeting with foreign diplomats, in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank January 30, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat looks on during a news conference following his meeting with foreign diplomats, in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank January 30, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman
TT

Erekat Says CIA Information-Sharing Halted

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat looks on during a news conference following his meeting with foreign diplomats, in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank January 30, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat looks on during a news conference following his meeting with foreign diplomats, in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank January 30, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman

The Palestinian security services will stop sharing information with the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), in protest at Israeli plans to annex parts of the occupied West Bank, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Thursday.

"It has been 48 hours that the American Intelligence Service have been notified that the agreement with them is no longer in force," said the Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

"Security cooperation with the US no more. Security cooperation with Israel no more."

The Palestinian government cut all ties with the Trump administration in 2017, accusing the US President of pro-Israel bias.

Certain non-political relations were maintained, however, including between the Palestinian security services and the CIA.

The exact details of the information-sharing is not public but is thought to concern Palestinian militant groups such as Hamas.

Erekat, speaking via video link from the West Bank city of Jericho, did not provide specific details on what the announcement would mean on the ground.

On Tuesday night, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced an end to all agreements with Israel and the US over the new Israeli government's plans to annex key parts of the occupied West Bank.

Trump's January peace proposals gave Israel the US green light to annex settlements in the West Bank, as well as the Jordan Valley -- a key strategic area that makes up around a third of the West Bank.

Palestinians say the plan ends prospects for a two-state solution to their decades-long conflict with Israel.

Abbas has made threats to end security coordination with Israel multiple times, without ultimately following through.

But Erekat said: "Things change and we have decided it is time now to change."



Lebanon PM Says Hopes for Ceasefire With Israel in 'Coming Hours or Days'

This handout picture provided by the Lebanese Prime Minister's press office shows Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati delivering a statement to the press in Beirut on October 11, 2024. (Photo by Lebanese Prime Minister's Press Office / AFP)
This handout picture provided by the Lebanese Prime Minister's press office shows Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati delivering a statement to the press in Beirut on October 11, 2024. (Photo by Lebanese Prime Minister's Press Office / AFP)
TT

Lebanon PM Says Hopes for Ceasefire With Israel in 'Coming Hours or Days'

This handout picture provided by the Lebanese Prime Minister's press office shows Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati delivering a statement to the press in Beirut on October 11, 2024. (Photo by Lebanese Prime Minister's Press Office / AFP)
This handout picture provided by the Lebanese Prime Minister's press office shows Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati delivering a statement to the press in Beirut on October 11, 2024. (Photo by Lebanese Prime Minister's Press Office / AFP)

Lebanon's prime minister said US envoy Amos Hochstein had signaled during a phone call Wednesday that a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war was possible before US elections are held on November 5.
"The call today with Hochstein suggested to me that perhaps we could reach a ceasefire in the coming days, before the fifth" of November, Najib Mikati said in a televised interview with Lebanese broadcaster Al-Jadeed.
Hochstein was heading to Israel on Wednesday to discuss conditions for a ceasefire with Hezbollah, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.
Hezbollah's new leader Naim Qassem on Wednesday said the group would agree to a ceasefire with Israel under acceptable terms, but added that a viable deal has yet to be presented, reported AFP.
"We are doing our best... to have a ceasefire within the coming hours or days," Mikati told Al-Jadeed, adding that he was "cautiously optimistic".
Mikati said Hezbollah is no longer linking a ceasefire in Lebanon to a truce in Gaza, but criticized the group over its "late" reversal.
Previously, Hezbollah had repeatedly declared it would stop its attacks on Israel only if a ceasefire was reached in Gaza.
However, Qassem on Wednesday said the group would accept a ceasefire under conditions deemed "appropriate and suitable", without any mention of the Palestinian territory.
Mikati said a ceasefire would be linked to the implementation of the United Nations resolution that ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.
Security Council Resolution 1701 states that only the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers should be deployed in southern Lebanon, while demanding the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanese territory.
"The Lebanese army is ready to strengthen its presence in southern Lebanon" and ensure that the only weapons and military infrastructure in the area are those controlled by the state, Mikati said.
He also said he would continue to try to shield Lebanon's only airport from attacks by Israel.
"I can guarantee that we will not give anyone an excuse to undermine our security or our air traffic," Mikati said.
Aid deliveries from Iran, Iraq and Algeria can "come by sea", he said, in order not to give Israel a pretext to launch strikes.
Mikati also said it was too dangerous to try to reopen Lebanon's main land border with Syria, which was put out of service by an Israeli strike this month.
"We sent a bulldozer to fill the crater at the crossing and it was bombed," Mikati said.
"We will not expose anyone to danger before we have full guarantees."