The Palestinian Authority announced on Sunday that it was unilaterally canceling the division of Judea and Samaria into Areas A, B, and C, which has been in effect since the Oslo Accords were signed.
The PA's local authorities minister, acting under instructions from PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, instructed heads of Palestinian local authorities in Judea and Samaria to prepare long-term development plans for their areas, regardless of whether the lands in question fall under Palestinian or Israeli civil and security control or whether they are open public lands or currently populated.
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According to the Oslo Accords, Area A includes all Palestinian cities in Judea and Samaria and the PA is in full control of civil and security matters there. Area B falls under civil control of the PA but under Israeli security control, while in Area C, which includes most Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria, Israel is in charge of all civil and security matters.
A senior official in Ramallah discussed the PA's decision to disregard the A, B, and C division of Judea and Samaria, telling Israel Hayom that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's remarks in Elkana on Sunday, in which the prime minister announced that Israel would annex more of the West Bank, "had nothing to do with the decision. This is a decision of principle that [PA President Mahmoud] Abbas made as part of the process of detaching [the PA] from Israel."
