President Mahmoud Abbas chairing the first meeting of the Higher National Committee held in Ramallah. (WAFA Images / Thayer Ghanayem) 

RAMALLAH, Tuesday, October 30, 2018 (WAFA) – The Higher National Committee, which was entrusted by the Palestinian Central Council (PCC) to follow up with its decision to sever ties with Israel, held its first meeting in Ramallah on Tuesday, a day after the PCC meeting.

Addressing the meeting, President Mahmoud Abbas described the two-day PCC session as  successful by all measures and came to deal with the difficult conditions facing the Palestinian cause.

He said that the committee was meeting to follow up on all the decisions and issues it was entrusted with by the PCC.

“We have held a Central Council meeting that was successful by all measures despite the absence of some, but this is their business and this is an open field for everyone to say what they want,” he said in reference to the factions that boycotted the meeting, such as the Popular Front and Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, two major Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) members.

“We wish success for this group, who are the best of our young people entrusted with this difficult task in this difficult and dangerous situation,” he said. “But the brothers have the will and opinions to implement all the decisions rationally and with cordially.”

The PCC decided to stop honoring terms of the agreements the PLO had signed with Israel since 1993 because the latter had stopped honoring them. It also decided to suspend recognition of Israel until the latter recognizes the Palestinian state end security coordination with Israel and disengage economically from it.

PLO Secretary General Saeb Erekat had said on Tuesday that the process of severing ties with Israel will be gradual.

M.K.