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Palestinian President: We May Be Forced to Take New Course of Action to Counter Israeli Practices

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (Getty Images)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (Getty Images)
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Palestinian President: We May Be Forced to Take New Course of Action to Counter Israeli Practices

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (Getty Images)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (Getty Images)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned Monday that Israel’s continued undermining of the two-state solution and its apartheid regime will force the Palestinian Authority to take different and important decisions next year.

“We reiterate our absolute rejection of the continuation of the Israel's occupation of the land of the State of Palestine, and of racial discrimination and ethnic cleansing against our Palestinian people,” Abbas said in a televised speech at the conference on "Self-Liberation of the Palestinians: Producing Resistance Knowledge".

Abbas said the PA is still reaching out to achieve a just and comprehensive peace according to the two-state solution and international resolutions and under the auspices of the International Quartet.

However, he warned that Israel's ongoing undermining of the two-state solution and its apartheid practices "will force us to resort to other options if the occupation does not reverse its actions."

"We may be forced to take important decisions which we will discuss in the next PLO Central Council meeting, which will be held early next year."

The PLO Central Council is expected to hold a meeting next January to place a work plan for the initiative that Abbas launched last September at the UN, where he called on the Secretary-General to convene an international peace conference.

Abbas’ threats come amid growing frustration with the US administration’s slow approach in supporting political efforts aimed at ending the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

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3 Members of Syrian Security Forces Killed in Clashes with Regime Remnants in Daraa

Defense ministry and security forces gather in Daraa’s town of al-Sanamayn.
Defense ministry and security forces gather in Daraa’s town of al-Sanamayn.
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3 Members of Syrian Security Forces Killed in Clashes with Regime Remnants in Daraa

Defense ministry and security forces gather in Daraa’s town of al-Sanamayn.
Defense ministry and security forces gather in Daraa’s town of al-Sanamayn.

Three members of the Syrian Internal Security Forces and a member of local armed groups were killed in clashes between the country’s new authorities and former military security forces affiliated with the ousted regime in the town of al-Sanamayn in the southern Daraa governorate.

Civilians, including women and children, were wounded in the unrest.

Military reinforcements arrived in the town on Wednesday morning to “raid outlawed armed groups,” a statement from Daraa authorities said, citing Internal Security official Abdul-Razzaq al-Khatib.

“The clashes remain intense in several buildings in the southwestern district of the city,” Khatib said, adding that a security officer was wounded in a direct gunfire attack on a checkpoint in the town on Tuesday.

Gunfights have been reported across Syria since the new authorities took power in Damascus on Dec. 8, with security officials blaming loyalists of the former regime for the unrest.

The authorities have launched security operations targeting what they describe as “remnants of the former regime,” leading to arrests, according to official statements.

Restoring and maintaining security across Syria remains one of the biggest challenges for interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, following a devastating civil war that began in 2011 and saw multiple factions involved.

The local news outlet Daraa 24 reported that the deceased were associated with a group led by Mohsen al-Himid, a former operative of the military security branch under the Assad regime.

Al-Himid’s group had been actively involved in the clashes, making them potential targets in the ongoing cycle of retaliatory attacks and factional violence in the region.

Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the group “considers itself above the law” and has continued to defy state authority while committing serious crimes, including murder, armed robbery, theft, kidnapping for ransom, and drug trafficking.

Residents have long called for a crackdown on such gangs, particularly since the fall of the Assad regime, in a bid to rid their communities of groups that “terrorize the population, spread corruption, and destroy society,” the sources added.

The number of outlawed armed groups still operating in parts of Daraa is small, but they continue to fuel insecurity and fear among residents, sources familiar with the situation said.

“The government is determined to restore security and stability across the governorate,” one source told Asharq Al-Awsat, adding that these groups are “not factions but criminal gangs.”

Most armed factions, the source noted, have already integrated into the Ministry of Defense.

The Internal Security Forces had launched a security campaign on Feb. 20 targeting remnants of the former regime, as well as drug and arms traffickers.

The operation has also sought to confiscate illegal weapons in the Daraa towns of al-Harah and Nimr, in an effort to tighten security.