By Ilana Messika/TPS
Nabil Shaath, Fatah (PLO) Commissioner for International Relations, said Wednesday that the Palestinian Authority leadership will not come back to the negotiating table as long as Israel does not stop building in Judea and Samaria. He added that all settlement options must be based on the two-state solution.
According to Shaath, the Palestinian Authority also want negotiations with Israel to be time-limited, and must include the release of terrorists jailed in Israel before the Oslo period began in 1993.
Shaath’s statements follow on the heels of PM Netanyahu’s statements to the Cabinet that although no formal agreement with Washington has been reached regarding construction in Judea and Samaria, Israel would unilaterally limit new construction to built-up areas within established settlements. That decision triggered a coalition squabble between the Likud and the Jewish Home parties, with the latter repeating its long-held view that Israel should abandon the idea of a Palestinian state.
The Fatah’s advisor declaration also echoes recent statements made by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas at the Arab League Summit in Amman, that implementing the two-state solution based on the 1967 borders is the only way to achieve peace and the Arab Peace Initiative remains the only option. The sentiment was reiterated by the Arab League leaders during the summit, who provided full support to Abbas.
Notably, these statements also precede the upcoming Palestinian Authority municipal elections, scheduled for May 13. Abbas declared at the end of February that the municipal elections would only take place in Judea and Samaria and not in the Gaza Strip, meaning the poll would be the second consecutive election without Hamas. The Hamas terror group boycotted the elections in 2012.
Abbas is now in his 12th year of his four year term as chairman which began in January 2005.
The PA’s municipal elections were originally scheduled for October, 2016 but were postponed following disputes with Hamas over the makeup of an election oversight court and following Fatah’s arrests of Hamas members ahead of election day.