US needs to take action beyond just talking to Israel and Palestine: PA official
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Sulaiman
- . February 16, 2023
- . Update: February 16, 2023 11:11 pm
According to Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for the Palestinian presidency, the West Bank is now in a “very hazardous” scenario as a result of Israel’s death of Palestinian civilians and home destruction operations.
We are dealing with an extreme Israeli administration, he declared. Israel’s current course of action is equivalent to waging war on the Palestinians. While the political relationship with Israel is nonexistent and the security coordination has ceased, daily deaths have heightened tension in Palestine.
Any of our options, including contacting the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court, will be available as a result of our demand that all unilateral measures cease, declared Abu Rudeineh.
According to him, Israel is taking $300,000 from Palestinian coffers each month, which prevents the Palestinian Authority from being able to pay all of its employees’ salaries.
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On February 3, Israel—which collects taxes on behalf of the PA—announced that it would pay out compensation to Palestinian assault victims using 100 million shekels ($29 million) in PA finances.
The directive was signed by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who asserted that the PA would typically transmit the monies to the families of detainees and resistance members.
The amount to be withheld is $14.7 million, which is double the monthly average amount confiscated. Smotrich’s action was the first of its sort since he became an officer.
Abu Rudeineh described Israel as “a state outside the law that defies the law and the resolutions of the UN Security Council which deems Israeli settlements illegal, notably in East Jerusalem.” Despite its continued growth in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, he continued, Israel has become an “existential threat to the PA as it has a government that meddles with security and stability in the Palestinian and Arab arenas.”
The most recent instance was Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s address, in which he emphasised the two-state solution and asserted that settlements were opposed by both the Republican and Democratic administrations in the United States. He said, “We’re dealing with an American administration that can’t back up what it says in public.
Even though the US had spoken things that appeared to be in favour of Palestine, he added, the action was still required. President Joe Biden said during his visit to Bethlehem that he opposed unilateral acts, supported the two-state solution, and supported the status quo, while Israel has continued to grow its settlements and legalise unilateral activities.
