RAMALLAH, Thursday, June 20, 2019 (WAFA) – Nabil Abu Rudainah, spokesman for President Mahmoud Abbas, said today that the upcoming Manama Workshop aims at normalizing Israel for free before implementing the Arab Peace Initiative which calls for a full Israeli withdrawal from the occupied territories as a first phase.

Abu Rudainah described the workshop as a provocation, especially that the Palestinian leadership will not agree to negotiations with Israel under any pressure, threats or dictations.

"These provocative steps will create an additional tension in a region that is already burning amidst," he said. "[The workshop] may lead to a point of no return at many levels."

"Any step must be accepted by the Palestinian people and its leadership, and no single party will succeed in reaching a settlement without the Palestinian leadership."

M.N