BICOM

Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas told the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) yesterday that the PA is no longer bound by the Oslo Accords peace agreements concluded in the 1990s.

In the weeks before his speech, Abbas had threatened to deliver a “bombshell” during his address. However, despite speculation, he did not announce the dissolution of the PA or an end to security cooperation with Israel in the West Bank, two measures which would likely have a significant practical impact. Instead, he alleged that “Israel refuses to commit to the agreements signed with us,” specifically citing “Israel refuses to cease settlement activities and to release of the fourth group of Palestinian prisoners in accordance with our agreements.” Consequently, said Abbas, the PA “cannot continue to be bound by these signed agreements with Israel.”

However, Abbas offered no indication of what his statement might mean in practice. He insisted that with the Oslo Accords effectively inoperable, “Israel must assume fully all its responsibility as an occupying power.” Yet, he also urged “donor countries to continue to support a better life for our people and our efforts to develop our State institutions,” indicating a continuation of the status quo.

Abbas also claimed that Israel “insists on continuing its destruction of the two-state solution and on entrenchment of two regimes on the ground,” which he said amounts to “an apartheid regime.”  He added that, “It is no longer useful to waste time in negotiations for the sake of negotiations” and called upon “the United Nations to provide international protection for the Palestinian people.”

Also yesterday, Abbas raised the Palestinian flag at UN headquarters in New York for the first time. Although the Palestinian delegation at the UN is only categorised as a non-member observer entity, a UN vote last month in which the UK abstained, paved the way for yesterday’s ceremony.