RAMALLAH, Tuesday, November 06, 2018 (WAFA) – The Israeli decision to deduct part of the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) tax revenues in order to transfer the money to the Gaza Strip comes within the framework of the so-called "deal of the century," which is based, first, on the racist Nation-State law, and, second, on the plot to separate the Gaza Strip from the West Bank and Jerusalem, Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said on Tuesday.
Erekat told Voice of Palestine radio that what Israel and the US administration are doing now is accentuating the separation in all possible means. He pointed out that this is indicative of their determination to maintain the separation in order to destroy the Palestinian national project embodied in the creation of the independent and sovereign Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Erekat said President Mahmoud Abbas spoke with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who confirmed his absolute support for the comprehensive and gradual implementation of the December 12, 2107 reconciliation agreement between the PA and Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip.
He wondered why would Hamas refuse to implement this agreement and why would it insist on the separation while pursuing a truce be with Israel. He also wondered why Hamas would not take the same path of 2014 after Israel’s war on Gaza when a truce sponsored by Egypt was achieved at the time.
"Hamas‘ thinks now that its highest goal is preserving itself and the de facto rule it has imposed in Gaza," he said, stressing that this would devastate the nation.
Erekat stressed that no one is seeking to isolate Hamas because the main objective of the 2017 agreement was to achieve full political partnership and to let the ballot boxes decide when there are the difference, not turn to fighting and the whims of those who carried out the 2007 coup.
He stressed that the Gaza Strip cannot be an independent entity and no Palestinian state can exist without Gaza.
Erekat pointed out that Egypt informed the Palestinian leadership of its readiness to come up with a comprehensive program for the implementation of the 2017 agreement, which will be done under their auspices, monitoring and supervision.
He said Israel and the administration of US President Donald Trump are practicing blackmail and bullying against the Palestinians, noting that the United States had cut in 2018 over $844 million from the Palestinians, including $304 million from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), $230 million in USAID assistance, $175 million in additional aid and $90 million that were directed to the Palestinian civil society.
Erekat reiterated the position of President Abbas and his steadfast position in the face of this blackmail, stressing that peace will not be at any price, not a single penny will be cut from the allocations of the prisoners and wounded and that there will be no peace without East Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine.
On the meetings of the Higher National Committee following up with the implementation of the decisions of the Palestinian Central Council, Erekat said that the meetings are continuing in full swing with the related parties and through sub-committees, noting that the PLO’s Executive Committee is also in an open ended meeting to implement the resolutions so that things do not remain as they are.
M.K.
