At the end of last week, international mass media reported that the head of the Palestinian Authority, 80-year-old Mahmoud Abbas, had resigned from his post as the chairman of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). More than half of the 18 members of the Executive Committee of the PLO decided to resign together with him. Experts linked these events to Abbas’s disappointment with the failure of the negotiations with Israel under US auspices. The US administration has failed to force Israel to stop building settlements and releasing older Palestinian prisoners from prisons.
Some observers expressed their doubts that Abbas intends to leave the political arena due to his attempt to put pressure on the US and EU in order to encourage them to take new diplomatic initiatives on the resuscitation of the peace process.
Meanwhile, Palestinian Ambassador to Moscow Abdul Hafiz Nofal made a statement that the Palestinian issue continues to be one of the most important not only in the region but throughout the world: "We have negotiated with Israel for 20 years, but now we have to review many issues in respect of the dossier negotiations. Over the past two days we have received different information about dismissals and negotiations."
According to the Ambassador, resignations in the PLO Executive Committee were necessary to convene the Palestinian National Council: "In terms of section 14, it was necessary to convene the Palestine National Council. It hasn’t been convened for 20 years. Its last meeting was in Gaza in 1993. So a common national concession was needed, or the presence of a quorum. The retirements which took place are linked to it. The National Council is to hold a meeting within a month in order to resolve this issue."
Hafez Nofal assured that Mahmoud Abbas will visit Moscow before the end of the year, where he is to participate in a meeting of the UN General Assembly next month. "Two years ago the General Assembly of the United Nations recognized Palestine as a state with incomplete rights. Now we are sending a message. The international community must put an end to the Israeli occupation," the diplomat said.
Speaking about international involvement in the Palestinian-Israeli settlement, Abdel Hafez Nofal said: "The Americans have been holding nine-month-long negotiations. During this period, US Secretary of State John Kerry visited the region more often than his White House predecessor. He was there 28 times. It means that the Americans really hope that the last chance for peaceful talks will be used. The Americans gave us a written document. They recognize the principle of the existence of two states within the borders of the 4th of June 1967. But the document doesn’t contain information about refugees.’’
According to him, "It is difficult to talk about the resumption of negotiations with Israel if the Israeli side doesn’t recognize the principle of two states according to the borders of June 4th 1967, with its capital in East Jerusalem and it doesn't mention refugees. Only under these conditions are we ready to continue negotiations in order to solve the complex of problems. The Palestinian leadership has no intention of negotiating until we receive such a document."
