AMMAN: Israel’s actions have sabotaged the landmark Oslo peace accords of the 1990s, the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Sunday.
“There is no Oslo,” Abbas told a meeting of Palestinian leaders in Ramallah called to discuss the recognition by US President Donald Trump of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. “Israel ended Oslo.”
Abbas told the 28th session of the Palestinian Central Council: “We said ‘no’ to Trump and we will not accept his project. The deal of century is the slap of century and we will not accept it.
“We do not take instructions from anyone and we say ‘no’ to anyone if it is about our destiny, our cause, our country and our people.”
The president said he regretted that there were no delegates at the meeting from Hamas in Gaza.
“What made me upset was that our brothers did not participate in this meeting because the place was not suitable for making fateful decisions,” he said.
“Where, in their opinion, is the place to make crucial decisions? We meet here to defend and protect Jerusalem, and there can be no argument from anyone that the place is not suitable. We are at a crucial moment and our future at stake.”
Abbas Zaki, a member of the Fatah central committee, told Arab News that Hamas leaders were afraid of participating in any effort to rewrite Palestinian liberation strategy.
“We are at the stage of coming up with a new strategy and we want all Palestinians to help us come up with a joint agreement because we know that such strategies require a level of sacrifice.”
Zaki said he hoped even those with differences of opinion would attend and express their ideas.
“We are holding our session in Palestine and the Council can accept all points of view.”
However, Zaki said he was worried that Hamas wanted the current Palestinian effort to fail.
“They want free gifts without having to work for them. They are waiting for the Palestinian National Authority to fail so that they can take over,” he said.
Zaki said all Palestinians rejected Trump’s position and wanted Arab countries to react in a strong way.
“Arab summits in Amman, Baghdad and Cairo all resolved unanimously that Arab countries would cut off relations with any country that moves its embassy to Jerusalem. It is time for our Arab brothers to act according to their own resolutions.”
Salim Zanoun, speaker of the Palestine National Council, said the US had opposed its own allies and ignored Palestinian rights with the aim of removing the issue of Jerusalem from final status talks, and had thus forfeited its role as a peace mediator.
“We are therefore asked to come up with a review of the recognition of Israel until it recognizes Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital,” he said.
Speaking on Palestine TV, Jamal Muhaisen, a member of the Fatah central committee, said the 1993 mutual recognition between the PLO and Israel should be withdrawn.
“We want to withdraw the recognition of Israel and not to suspend the recognition. When they are ready to recognize us we will recognize them,” he said.
Muhaisan, who is in charge of Fatah recruitment and enlisting, called on all Palestinians “including ministers and government employees” to participate in the popular struggle against the occupation.
The Palestine Central Council is the intermediary body between the Palestinian parliament in exile, the Palestine National Council and the Executive Committee.
Analysts say it is likely that the Palestine National Council, which was last held in Gaza in April 1996, will meet again this year to formulate a new Palestinian strategy.
Israel has sabotaged Oslo peace accords, Palestinian leader says
Israel has sabotaged Oslo peace accords, Palestinian leader says
US and Iran slide towards conflict as military buildup eclipses nuclear talks
- Washington building up one of its biggest military deployments in the region since the invasion of Iraq in 2003
- Iran is expected to submit a written proposal in the coming days, a US official says
Iran and the United States are sliding rapidly towards military conflict as hopes fade for a diplomatic solution to their standoff over Tehran’s nuclear program, officials on both sides and diplomats across the Gulf and Europe say.
Iran’s Gulf neighbors and its enemy Israel now consider a conflict to be more likely than a settlement, these sources say, with Washington building up one of its biggest military deployments in the region since the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Israel’s government believes Tehran and Washington are at an impasse and is making preparations for possible joint military action with the United States, though no decision has been made yet on whether to carry out such an operation, said a source familiar with the planning.
It would be the second time the US and Israel have attacked Iran in less than a year, following US and Israeli airstrikes against military and nuclear facilities last June.
Regional officials say oil-producing Gulf countries are preparing for a possible military confrontation that they fear could spin out of control and destabilize the Middle East.
Two Israeli officials told Reuters they believe the gaps between Washington and Tehran are unbridgeable and that the chances of a near‑term military escalation are high.
Some regional officials say Tehran is dangerously miscalculating by holding out for concessions, with US President Donald Trump boxed in by his own military buildup - unable to scale it back without losing face if there is no firm commitment from Iran to abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions.
“Both sides are sticking to their guns,” said Alan Eyre, a former US diplomat and Iran specialist, adding that nothing meaningful can emerge “unless the US and Iran walk back from their red lines - which I don’t think they will.”
“What Trump can’t do is assemble all this military, and then come back with a ‘so‑so’ deal and pull out the military. I think he thinks he’ll lose face,” he said. “If he attacks, it’s going to get ugly quickly.”
Two rounds of Iran-US talks have stalled on core issues, from uranium enrichment to missiles and sanctions relief.
When Omani mediators delivered an envelope from the US side containing missile‑related proposals, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi refused even to open it and returned it, a source familiar with the talks said.
After talks in Geneva on Tuesday, Araghchi said the sides had agreed on “guiding principles,” but the White House said there was still distance between them.
Iran is expected to submit a written proposal in the coming days, a US official said, and Araghchi said on Friday he expected to have a draft counterproposal ready within days.
But Trump, who has sent aircraft carriers, warships and jets to the Middle East, warned Iran on Thursday it must make a deal over its nuclear program or “really bad things” will happen.
He appeared to set a deadline of 10 to 15 days, drawing a threat from Tehran to retaliate against US bases in the region if attacked. The rising tensions have pushed up oil prices.
US officials say Trump has yet to make up his mind about using military force although he acknowledged on Friday that he could order a limited strike to try to force Iran into a deal.
“I guess I can say I am considering that,” he told reporters.
The possible timing of an attack is unclear. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on February 28 to discuss Iran. A senior US official said it would be mid-March before all US forces were in place.
