Abbas tells US lawmakers he won’t accept American ‘dictates’

President of the Palestinian Authority (PA) Mahmoud Abbas has slammed Israel for “insisting on destroying” agreements with Palestinians, saying he will not accept “dictates” from the US administration, which has been unilaterally pushing a controversial plan on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

News ID: 446454

Date: 09 August 2019 - 09:49

RNA - Abbas made the remarks in a meeting with a 41-member delegation of the Democratic members of the US Congress in Ramallah.

During the meeting, Abbas reiterated “his rejection of American dictates and decisions related to Jerusalem [al-Quds], refugees, borders and security,” according to Palestine’s official WAFA news agency.

Abbas was apparently referring to a controversial “peace” plan proposed by US President Donald Trump called the “deal of the century.”

Earlier in June, Israeli daily Haaretz revealed that under the US-proposed plan, Palestinian refugees would be naturalized and settled in several countries, including Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Iraq.

Leaks have also suggested that the controversial deal regards Jerusalem al-Quds entirely as Israeli territory, whereas Palestinians view the eastern sector of the occupied city as the capital of their future state.

Palestinians believe that the US-drafted plan calls for keeping borders and security under Israeli control, while it keeps Israeli settlements’ final borders to be discussed in later negotiations.

The economic portion of Trump’s deal, which would inject $50 billion into struggling economies in the Middle East over the next ten years, was unveiled during a conference in Bahrain in June.

All Palestinian factions had boycotted the event, slamming Washington for what they view as an attempt to offer financial rewards for Palestinians to accept the Israeli occupation.

Abbas said that the Tel Aviv regime has not respected agreements with the Palestinians and was “insisting on destroying them, a matter that has pushed the Palestinian leadership to decide to halt” their implementation.

In Late July, the Palestinian president declared the suspension of “all agreements, including security coordination" with the Tel Aviv regime.

Elsewhere in his Wednesday speech, Abbas affirmed his support for the so-called two-state solution “according to resolutions of international legitimacy”.

The Trump administration has taken a harsh stance against the Palestinians.

In December 2017, Trump declared that Washington was recognizing Jerusalem al-Quds as the “capital” of Israel and planning to relocate the American embassy from Tel Aviv to the city.

Months later, Washington moved its embassy from Tel Aviv to the occupied city in defiance of international criticisms.

The move angered Palestinians, who said they would no longer accept Washington's mediation role in their conflict with Israel.

The Trump administration has also cut aid to Palestinians and slashed its contributions to UNRWA – the UN agency that supports more than five million Palestinian refugees across the Middle East.

Trump also closed the Palestinian Liberation Organization's office in Washington last year.

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