BICOM

Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas accused Hamas of lacking “intentions to achieve reconciliation” during a meeting of the Palestinian Central Council in Ramallah on Wednesday.

The meeting was convened by Abbas to assess current situation in Gaza but the PA leader took the opportunity to attack Israel and the Trump administration. Abbas clarified that any future intra-Palestinian reconciliation agreement must be impartial and unify “their land under one government, one law and one legal weapon” – a reference to Hamas disarming its militias. Abbas accused the US of trying to promote Gaza aid projects to serve its own interests.

He added that the PA will continue to provide financial support to “the families of martyrs and prisoners”. “Yigal Amir, the murderer of a prime minister, was given the opportunity to marry and be reunited with his wife and receive allowances and benefits [while in prison]. Our prisoners are freedom fighters and they deserve to have us support them,” Abbas said.

According to a report by the Jerusalem Centre for Public Affairs in July, the PA’s 2017 budget for payments to Palestinians in Israeli prisons and their families was US $153.4 million, a 13 per cent increase compared to 2016 and equal to half the foreign aid the PA expects to receive this year.

Abbas said the Palestinians will reject the new US plan to restart Israeli-Palestinian talks. He told the plenary meeting that it is important to discuss how to confront the so-called “deal of the century,” which he said the US is trying to impose on regional players, until the Palestinians are able to “bring it down”.

He also called Israel Nation-State Law “fascist,” saying the Palestinians will continue the “peaceful popular resistance” against Israel “with action, not just words and speeches”.

The Palestinian Central Council, which last met in January, was closed to media after Abbas’s speech and will continue for two days. In the past it has made a series of decisions, such as calling for an end to security cooperation with Israel, although this was not implemented.