Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has ended all agreements with Israel and the United States. It is a reaction to Israel's annexation plans in the occupied West Bank.
Ramallah (dpa) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas terminates all agreements with Israel and the United States. At a meeting of the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah, Abbas said, according to the Wafa news agency, that this also includes security agreements.
Abbas was reacting to Israel's plans for annexation in the occupied West Bank. Abbas had made similar threats in the past, but had not yet implemented them.
Israel must now take responsibility for the occupied territories, the Palestinian President said. The United States is said to be "fully responsible for the oppression of the Palestinian people" as a partner to an occupying power.
Israel's new government plans to annex settlements and the Jordan Valley in the West Bank in accordance with US President Donald Trump's Middle East plan. The plans are highly controversial internationally. Trump presented the plan in January in Washington in Netanyahu's presence. The main points of the plan: The Palestinians are promised their own state, albeit under tough conditions. Jerusalem is said to remain the undivided capital of Israel.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas immediately rejected the plan. The Palestinians have been boycotting the U.S. government since Trump unilaterally recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital in late 2017. Trump's plan envisages around 70 percent of the area of the West Bank for the Palestinians. The Israeli settlements with hundreds of thousands of Israelis are said to remain. In addition, at least initially, the Palestinians would not be given security control over their own borders.
Israel conquered the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the Six Day War in 1967. The Palestinians are demanding the areas for their own state - with East Jerusalem as the capital.