The Palestinian Authority on Thursday strongly condemned the peace deal between Morocco and Israel, calling the move "unacceptable" and a "betrayal."
Moroccan King Mohammmed has assured PA President Mahmoud Abbas in a phone call that Rabat stands by a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a royal court statement said. The king added that negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians are the only way to reach a final, lasting and comprehensive solution to the conflict.
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But Bassam as-Salhi, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization's Executive Committee, condemned the deal, as Palestinian officials did with the earlier Israeli normalization accords with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan.
"Any Arab retreat from the [2002] Arab peace initiative, which stipulates that normalization comes only after Israel ends its occupation of Palestinian and Arab lands, is unacceptable and increases Israel's belligerence and its denial of the Palestinian people's rights," Salhi said.
In Gaza, Hamas, the Islamist group that controls the coastal enclave, and the Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad both condemn Morocco's decision to normalize ties with Israel, with both terrorist groups slamming it as a "betrayal" of the Palestinian cause.
Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem called the decision "a sin."
"This sin does not serve the Palestinian cause, and the occupation exploits every act of normalization to increase its aggressive policies against our people. The Israeli occupation uses every new normalization to increase its aggression against the Palestinian people and increase its settlement expansion," he said,
"Normalization by Morocco with the Israeli occupation is a betrayal of Jerusalem and of Palestine," a statement by the Islamic Jihad said. "We trust that the Moroccan people will utterly refuse this normalization."
Meanwhile, Egypt, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates welcomed the news that Israel and Morocco are to establish full diplomatic ties.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi issued a statement saying, "I followed with great interest the important development regarding the agreement between Morocco and Israel to normalize relations between them with American mediation. If this step bears fruit, it would create further stability and cooperation in our region."
Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan tweeted, "We welcome the United States 'declaration of recognition of the brotherly Morocco's sovereignty over the Moroccan Sahara, and the decision of Rabat to resume contacts and diplomatic relations with the State of Israel. [This is] a sovereign step that contributes to strengthening our common quest for stability, prosperity, and just and lasting peace in the region."
Bahrain lauded the deal as well but chose to focus on Morocco's diplomatic victory, rather than the decision to normalize ties with Israel.
King Hamad bin Issa Al Khalifa's office issued a statement saying that he "welcomed the recognition by the United States of America of the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Morocco over the Moroccan Sahara region and the opening of a US consulate in the city of Dakhla."
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