Palestinian officials in Ramallah remained on edge on Sunday awaiting this week's July 1 deadline set by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to begin applying Israeli sovereignty in parts of Judea and Samaria.
Senior Palestinian Authority officials told Israel Hayom they believe Netanyahu was intentionally withholding details about the intended sovereignty initiative as a tactical move to "lull the Palestinian street to sleep."
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"Israel is trying to exploit the Palestinian street's ambivalence about Israel's intentions to implement annexation on July 1," a senior PA official said. "We won't be surprised if the plan doesn't even get underway this week, but at a later date."
With that, one senior Palestinian official emphasized that the PA was continuing to prepare the groundwork, together with Arab countries and the international community, to foil the Israeli sovereignty plan.
The official also noted that recent reports about plans to dismantle the PA if Israel indeed implements sovereignty were inaccurate.
"We are preparing for all the scenarios, but we will not allow violence and terror," the official said. "We are adhering to the popular struggle. Even if Israel declares sovereignty on July 1, that isn't what will lead to the end of the Palestinian Authority. The extremists in Israel who are betting on the PA's demise and the end of the vision of an independent Palestinian state can keep dreaming.
"The Palestinian Authority is here to stay until the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital," the official said.
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