Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas warned Saturday that he will not allow for two separate entities to rule Palestinian lands, effectively admitting that Ramallah was actively trying to torpedo the Egyptian-brokered cease-fire talks between Israel and Hamas.
Over the past few weeks, Egypt has been heading the indirect negotiations between Israel and the terrorist group ruling the Gaza Strip, in an attempt to prevent recent flare-ups on the Gaza border from escalating into war.
Hamas ousted Abbas' Western-backed government from the Gaza Strip in a military coup in 2007. Since then, the various efforts to reconcile the rival Palestinian factions – the latest brokered by Egypt in late 2017 – have failed.
The Palestinian Authority will not abide by any deal inked between Israel and Hamas and Ramallah will actively try to torpedo it, Abbas exclaimed.
"Either we take responsibility for the West Bank and Gaza under one state, one regime, one law, and one weapon, or [Hamas] will take responsibility for it," he told the closing session of the Palestinian Central Council, the Palestine Liberation Organization's second-highest decision-making body.
But according to Abbas, "Reconciliation [with Hamas] does not mean a truce, cease-fire, or humanitarian assistance. Reconciliation means that unity should be reinstated. There is no state in Gaza and an autonomy in the West Bank, and we will not accept this. We will never accept the separation of Gaza [from the West Bank]."
He reiterated that any humanitarian aid or financial support for the coastal enclave must go through his own government, saying, "Who rehabilitated Gaza after [the Israeli military campaign in] 2014? The money was transferred to me and we rebuilt [Gaza]. We rebuilt some 90% of the houses – they [Hamas] did not rebuild even one house!"
Abbas further lambasted Israel for "violating all the agreements including Oslo, which I signed [in 1993]. We benefitted, but they started to destroy it. And they did destroy it. Therefore, Oslo will not remain if the situation remains as it is."
He reiterated that the Palestinian Authority would not maintain ties with the U.S. unless it rescinds its recognition of Jerusalem, announced in December 2017.
U.S. President Donald Trump's move and the subsequent relocation of the American Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem prompted Abbas to declare that Ramallah no longer sees the U.S. as a trustworthy partner in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, given Washington's bias toward the Jewish state.
Palestinian Authority officials have not met with senior White House adviser Jared Kushner or U.S. Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt since January. Both Kushner and Greenblatt have said they would prefer to engage with Abbas on the long-awaited White House peace plan but stressed that if he persists with his rejectionism, the White House will work to implement the plan without him.
"Hope must remain with us that the state of Palestinian will inevitably come and that the Palestinian flag will be raised above Jerusalem," he said, Abbas said.
He also endorsed "popular resistance," saying that "we must not underestimate popular resistance and the land should remain aflame with popular resistance.
Abbas informed the Central Committee that his government plans to call on the U.N. General Assembly to condemn Israel's "racist and fascist" nation-state law when it reconvenes in September.
Responding to Abbas's threat, Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon said that "every year, ahead of the General Assembly, the Palestinians prepare some propagandist action. This is a ridiculous move."
