PLO official warns of declaration of Palestinian statehood in response to Trump plan

Abu Yusuf said the Palestinians will appeal to the U.N. and International Criminal Court for international protection while commencing with “popular protest activities.”

By TPS and World Israel News Staff 

Wassel Abu Yusuf, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee, said Sunday in an interview with Arab media that the Palestinian Authority (PA) leadership is considering unilaterally declaring the establishment of an independent Palestinian state and ending the transition period of the Oslo Accords as a response to an announcement on the details of U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace plan.

Disclosure of the details of the plan is expected on Tuesday.

Abu Yusuf, a member of a special PLO committee that has made recommendations on what actions to take ahead of the unveiling of Trump’s so-called Deal of Century, said that a declaration of independence, which involves severing relations with Israel, would be a necessary step even if it were to bring about the collapse of the PA.

Speaking about the upcoming U.S. announcement, Abu Yusuf said that the Palestinians will appeal to the United Nations and the International Criminal Court to seek international protection for their claims while commencing with “popular protest activities,” a reference to violence and riots.

Abu Yusuf added that a Palestinian declaration of a status as a “state under occupation” is also possible.

Eastern Jerusalem would be declared the capital of the Palestinian state.

In the meantime, the Palestine National Council called on the PLO Executive Committee to implement all decisions made by the organization’s institutions, most notably the decision to end the Oslo transition phase, including its political, security, and economic agreements and to take the necessary steps to “escalate the resistance.”

Council members are now demanding that Arab and Islamic countries adhere to previous decisions that guarantee the Palestinians’ right to self-determination and independence.

The Oslo Accords were officially launched with the Declaration of Principles signed in September 1993. At the beginning of the process, the PA was set up as a self-rule authority in parts of Judea, Samaria, and the Gaza Strip. Ultimately, a Palestinian state was to have been established, but it never happened amid rampant Arab terrorism in Israel.

The A-Sharq al-Awsat daily quoted a PA official as saying that a Palestinian announcement on the move to an independent state is a reasonable possibility. In such a situation, the PA and its government would cease carrying out their duties and instead, the PLO Executive Committee would become a provisional government and the National Council would become the Palestinian parliament. These institutions would seek international protection and full U.N. membership.

The Hamas terror organization, which overthrew the PA in the Gaza Strip in 2007, is not a member of the PLO institutions. Hamas spokesmen are calling for the convening of the entire leadership to formulate a new confrontation strategy.

The possibility of a unilateral declaration of an independent state has previously been discussed many times by the PA leadership and is considered a dangerous and sensitive plan because of the expected implications for the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian population in its territory.

Activists in Fatah, the mainstream wing of the PLO and PA, are concerned over a potential lack of willingness on the Palestinian street to mobilize for the benefit of the Palestinian leadership.

“This is a course of suicide on the part of Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas] and the end of the PLO’s Palestinian dream,” a Fatah official told TPS.

“Dependency on Israel binds the Palestinian Authority to existing agreements and, if the PA’s residents find themselves in serious civilian condition following the collapse of essential services, the Palestinian leadership will be perceived as equally responsible as Israel. This is a declarative step that has no political benefit for the Palestinians,” he warned.