Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas has set a meeting to convene PA government officials and other leaders on Tuesday evening at 7 pm; the same time US President Donald Trump is set to finally unveil the details of his Middle East Peace Plan.
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In a separate meeting on Monday, while Trump was sharing the details of the plan with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue & White faction leader Benny Gantz, Abbas held a closed-door meeting with the leadership of his Fatah faction, the largest faction in the Palestinian Authority. During that meeting, somewhat ominously, Abbas called for an “escalation on all fronts,” according to a report published by Ynet.
“Hard days are ahead of us,” he was quoted as saying in an address that sounded much like those heard from the podiums of terrorist leaders in Gaza.
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“We must be prepared to face the results of the objection to [the peace plan] be as they may. We need to escalate popular resistance on all fronts and recruit the young, not abandon the streets,” Abbas said.
“We will stand united in the coming days and examine the position of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. In the coming days we will be in a state of emergency and we will invite everyone to join us, we need them all,” he exhorted.
Ahead of Wednesday’s “day of rage” scheduled in response to the expected roll out of the Trump Middle East Peace Plan, Abbas also instructed the Palestinian Authority security forces – trained barely more than a decade ago by the United States and Jordan with US funds, equipment and personnel – not to stop rioters from clashing with IDF soldiers. It’s not clear what his expectation or intent was in issuing the instruction.
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Abbas also reportedly refused to speak with Trump this weekend when the White House called to discuss the soon-to-be-released peace plan.