RAMALLAH, Tuesday, May 14, 2019 (WAFA) – Faced with the possibility of the United States announcing its so-called deal of the century in June which Palestinians fear aims at undercutting their decades-long fight for freedom and independence while an internal division is harming Palestinian capability to confront it, and a crippling money shortage due to Israel’s persistence to deduct millions of dollars from the Palestinian tax revenues, Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said last night that the next three months are going to be among the most difficult ones for the Palestinians.

Speaking at an Iftar, the fast breaking meal in Ramadan, Shtayyeh called for unity among the Palestinians to face the challenges ahead.

He accused Israel of waging a war of geography by seizing Palestinian land to build Jewish settlements, a war of demography by displacing Palestinians and a financial war with the United States playing a big role in it in order to coerce the Palestinians to accept what he described as “the deal of shame”, in reference to the American so-called deal of the century, which he insisted will never happen.

In the Palestinian cabinet meeting yesterday, Shtayyeh urged countries that believe in the two-state solution to respond to the Israeli threats of annexing parts of the West Bank by recognizing the State of Palestine on the borders of June 4, 1967, with Jerusalem as its capital and the right of return for refugees.

He also called on the European countries and the World Bank to send investigation teams to examine the Israeli deductions of the Palestinian tax funds, stressing that most of the deductions are unfair, unaudited and carried out without any transparency.

M.K.