About 2,000 Palestinians demonstrated Wednesday August 19 in the occupied West Bank against the agreement of normalization between the United Arab Emirates and Israel described as a " stab in the back " by the Palestinian leadership.
Read also: Palestinians stunned after the rapprochement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates
Members of rival Palestinian movements, the secular Fatah of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Islamist Hamas, joined in the protest together, a rare occurrence, according to an AFP correspondent there. The Palestinian Authority is headquartered in Ramallah in the West Bank, Palestinian territory occupied by Israel, and Hamas controls the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory under Israeli blockade.
2,000 Palestinians were present. JAAFAR ASHTIYEH / AFP
“ Today we are telling the world that we are united against the 'deal of the century', annexation and normalization, ” Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh said at the rally in Turmus'ayya, a village between Ramallah and Nablus in the northern West Bank. The Palestinians have rejected US President Donald Trump's plan for a settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, called the “ deal of the century ” by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Among other things, the agreement provides for the annexation by Israel of parts of the West Bank.
Standardization agreement
The normalization agreement between the Emirates and Israel, announced on August 13 by the United States, provides for the end of the annexation project in the West Bank according to the Emirates. But Benyamin Netanyahu spoke of a “ postponement ”. " Any normalization legitimizes the occupation " of the Palestinian territories, launched the Palestinian prime minister, qualifying the decision of the Emirates as " a stab in the back ". But he “ welcomed ” the declaration of the Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prince Faisal Ben Farhane, who on Wednesday ruled out any normalization with Israel in the absence of a peace agreement between Israelis and Palestinians.
Hamas representative in the West Bank, Hassan Youssef, also spoke at the Turmus'ayya rally, denouncing the US plan and the agreement between the UAE and Israel. The protesters came from several parts of the West Bank. Clashes took place around the village of Turmus'ayya between demonstrators and Israeli forces, the former throwing stones and the latter firing tear gas. Earlier in the day, hundreds of Palestinians protested in the Gaza Strip to denounce the agreement between Israel and the Emirates.