Palestinian Prime Minister Mohamed Shtayyeh accused Israel of undermining and “destroying” the Palestinian Authority and intentionally putting an end to the Oslo Accords.
On the 29th anniversary of signing the Oslo Accords agreement, Shtayyeh said Israel “left nothing of the agreement,” adding that it “canceled and disregarded most of its provisions.”
“Israel abolished its political, economic, and geographic parts, refrained from negotiating the final status issues, continued with its unilateral measures, such as the settlements and the financial deductions, and stopped the release of the fourth batch of prisoners, in violation of the agreement,” Shtayyeh said.
He urged the PA to freeze and review the agreement, given that Tel Aviv has already canceled most of its terms.
The Oslo Accords were signed on September 13, 1993 and were supposed to act as a temporary passage to the establishment of a Palestinian state five years later.
The PM further accused Israel of seeking to destroy the Palestinian Authority and undermine its institutions rather than boosting its position.
He affirmed during a cabinet session on Monday that the PA rejects the reinforcements suggested by Israel and wants to end the occupation instead.
“We want to attain our national rights. We want this occupation to end. We want international legitimacy to prevail, and international law to rule,” Shtayyeh stressed.
His remarks were in response to Israel’s accusation of the PA losing its control in the West Bank, which may lead to a third intifada (uprising) that cannot be avoided unless the PA’s position and role are enhanced.
Israel has recently underlined the PA’s weakness and its declining position and pressured it to take action against Palestinian armed men, a request to which the PA did not respond.
Speaking at a conference at the Reichman University in Herzliya, Sin Bet chief Ronen Bar warned about the increasing number of shootouts in the West Bank, as well as a wider loss of control by the Palestinian Authority.
Bar urged the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, to boost security mechanisms and address the continuous deterioration in the status of the PA’s agencies.
He considered the shooting incidents an indication of “the absence of governance.”
Israel says it wants to boost the PA’s position in the West Bank.
Deliberations and discussions have recently taken place to put the ideas into effect, but the extent of their impact is not certain.
Israel considers arming the PA, releasing prisoners, increasing the number of permits and workers, supporting projects, and allowing their implementation.
It also deliberates facilitating the movement of people and goods, settling pending issues, such as family reunions and granting the Palestinians “4G” services, and pumping economic aid to the PA from various sources.
However, none of these suggestions has been approved so far.
Israel believes that the West Bank is on the verge of a third intifada, in light of the unprecedented escalation driven by independent Palestinian youths who don’t belong to any faction and are considered popular heroes.
However, Palestinians say that Israel is stepping up its actions after canceling the political agreements for electoral purposes.
Shtayyeh stressed that Israel’s current escalation, including its programmed killing, systematic settler colonialism, incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Ibrahimi Mosque, confiscation of land, daily restrictions on people’s lives, raiding Palestinian cities, and repeated daily incitement are all part of electoral propaganda that will eventually become the government’s official policy towards Palestinians.
He warned that hiding behind the absence of a political horizon, the world's preoccupation with the war in Ukraine, and the upcoming elections in Israel cannot be a cover for the occupation’s crimes against Palestinians.
He called on the world to wake up and see Israel’s actions against the oppressed and occupied people.
