President Abbas to "Asharq Al-Awsat": Gaza is the Responsibility of the Palestinian Authority; We Will Act Immediately When the Aggression Stops

President Mahmoud Abbas affirmed that the Palestinian Authority (PA) is responsible for the Gaza Strip and is ready to fulfill its duties "immediately upon the cessation of aggression on our people." In an interview with "Asharq Al-Awsat," he stated, "We have been and will continue to be responsible for the Gaza Strip."

Abbas added that the "Al-Aqsa Flood" attack took everyone by surprise, "No one was expecting that," confirming the PA's determination to work with all Arab, regional, and international actors to "prevent a new calamity from befalling the Palestinian people."

The Palestinian leader praised the Saudi stance on the Palestinian issue as "historic, honorable, authentic, and steadfast," acknowledging the Saudi declaration emphasizing the recognition of the Palestinian state's priority over comprehensive peace and normalization "especially in these dangerous circumstances the region and the world are going through."

Abbas criticized the administration of President Joe Biden for not applying "real and serious" pressure on the Israeli government to establish the political process toward achieving an independent Palestinian state. He discussed the absence of an "Israeli partner" after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu became an "obstacle" to the peace process.

On the issue of forming a new government, he said that this is an internal Palestinian affair: "We have paid dearly to protect the independent Palestinian decision, and we will not allow anyone to interfere or attempt to dominate it." The interview text follows:

· Mr. President, are we on the path to a Palestinian State or to a second catastrophe?

- The establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital remains one of our national constants, according to the decisions of all Palestinian National Council sessions. We are continuously and vigorously working to realize the independence of our Palestinian state, which most world countries recognize. We seek full international recognition of this state and to elevate its UN status to full membership. At the same time, we will confront any attempts aimed at uprooting our people from their land. We will work at all levels with Arab, regional, and international parties to prevent a new catastrophe for the Palestinian people, which we have warned the entire world about, especially the American administration. We highlighted that such a dangerous move would result in catastrophic consequences for the region and the entire world, plunging the area into instability.

A serious Israeli error

· What does the solution that stops Gaza's suffering look like?

- The tragedy Gaza and the rest of the Palestinian territories are experiencing is unprecedented. The Israeli killing machine is systematically and thoughtfully destroying all the foundations of the Palestinian entity, believing that these practices provide security and stability. This is a great mistake, and Israel will pay a dear price for it. The only solution for security and peace is to immediately halt the war and withdraw the occupation army from the entire Gaza Strip without cutting any part of its land. To quickly bring in relief and medical aid, because we will never allow the displacement of Palestinians from their land, whatever the cost. Then prepare to start a political settlement based on international legitimacy and the Arab Peace Initiative, beginning with the recognition of the Palestinian state and its full membership in the UN through a Security Council resolution, and convening an international peace conference with international guarantees and a specific timetable that ends the Israeli occupation of state land. Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital on 1967 borders to embody the independent Palestinian state solution as per the two-state solution.

Israel has tried all security and military solutions against the Palestinian people, which have all proven unsuccessful. The time has now come for the international community to assert its commitment to international legality and law, especially the American administration.

· Did U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken convey a commitment to officially recognizing the Palestinian state to you?

- We have met the US administration many times (with Blinken five times, with Jake Sullivan and with William Burns on several occasions). We heard promises about the two-state solution and support for peace efforts based on international legitimacy. There was deep and ongoing dialogue with them, but on the ground, nothing happened. It means that the Biden administration hasn't exerted real and significant pressure on the Israeli right-wing government to see a practical application of these statements. The Israeli occupation openly pursues a policy of destroying the basis of the political process, blatantly rejects international resolutions, including the two-state solution, and wages a comprehensive aggression against the Palestinian people, committing bloodbaths and ethnic cleansing, especially in Gaza Strip, and violence and racial discrimination in the West Bank including East Jerusalem.

The United States continues to provide protection and support for this occupation, prompting us to say that it does not matter what we hear or what the US administration says, but what really matters is what is happening on the ground. This is what we demand the US administration implement so that we can move forward in a serious and clear political process based on international legitimacy to provide security and stability for all.

The solution needs "honest American will"

· Is there a vision for opening the political horizon through a Security Council resolution or another formula?

- The mechanism is clear, but only needs application. A UN Security Council resolution should be issued granting the State of Palestine full membership in the United Nations, and convening an international peace conference attended by all international parties under UN sponsorship. An action mechanism should arise from it, supported by clear international guarantees, and a political track according to a specified schedule, committed to by all parties based on international law and international legitimacy resolutions, which only requires honest international will, especially from the US administration.

· Is the establishment of the Palestinian state conditional on its recognition of Israel and international security guarantees for the Jewish state?

- According to the Oslo Accords, mutual recognition was exchanged between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel. Based on that, interim bilateral agreements with international guarantees were signed. There was an agreement on an interim basis followed by a permanent agreement after resolving all issues of the final status, and a peace agreement between the states of Palestine and Israel was to be signed.

We have fulfilled all the obligations on our part, despite the Israeli intransigence and its rejection of all the resolutions of international legitimacy and defying international law. Note that the State of Palestine is established, and its institutions are operating according to the best international standards. Once that is achieved, mutual recognition between the states of Palestine and Israel will be in place, with guarantees agreed upon by the relevant parties. What is required now is for Israel to recognize the State of Palestine.

· Will Hamas' joining the PLO bind it to recognize Israel as previously recognized by the organization?

- We have repeatedly stated and affirmed that the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. Anyone wishing to join the organization must commit to the PLO's singular representation and its clear political program, international commitments, and agreements with all international parties established by the Palestinian National Authority. Therefore, we have always emphasized that the door to joining the organization is open to all Palestinian political factions, considering the PLO as the house of all Palestinians, emphasizing the necessity to commit to the PLO's unique representation and respect its Arab and international commitments and the decisions of the Palestinian National Councils.

The question of "the next day"

· Is the Palestinian National Authority ready to manage the Gaza Strip, what has been termed "the next day" after the war?

- The Palestinian National Authority has never left the Gaza Strip to return to it. Since the coup carried out by Hamas in 2007, the Palestinian government has been paying more than 140 million dollars monthly for the sector (electricity, water/fuel, hospitals, pensions, social development). It is our duty towards our people in Gaza. We were, and still are, and will continue to be responsible for the Gaza Strip. We will do our duty towards our people in Gaza as in the rest of the Palestinian territories in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. As soon as the aggression on our people in the Gaza Strip ceases, we are ready to start working to alleviate our people's suffering and perform our duties incumbent upon us, as a Palestinian national authority, towards all Palestinian people everywhere.

· Are the authority's institutions capable of playing this role? And did Blinken ask for their rehabilitation? Did he also ask for a technocratic or consensus government?

- The institutions of the State of Palestine are built according to the highest international standards and are capable of performing the tasks assigned to them to the fullest extent possible, whether in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, or East Jerusalem. Forming a new Palestinian government is a Palestinian internal decision made to care for the supreme interests of the Palestinian people and protect them, not in submission to any external demands, whether regional or international. We have paid dearly for protecting the independent national Palestinian decision, and we will not allow anyone to interfere with it or attempt to control it.

Saudi stance "honorable and historic"

· You welcomed the Saudi statement, which emphasized the priority of recognizing the state over comprehensive peace and normalization. How do you describe your relations with Saudi Arabia?

- The positions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, since the era of the founding King Abdulaziz Al Saud, may God have mercy on him, and reaching the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz, and Crown Prince His Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman, are historic, honorable, authentic, and steadfast positions towards the Palestinian people and their just cause.

The Saudi statement, which confirmed the Kingdom's position and constants towards the Palestinian issue, is but a continuation of this great journey and the brave stances that the Kingdom has always taken towards Palestine and its people. Saudi Arabia's strenuous efforts to embody the rights of the Palestinian people to freedom and independence, and to establish their independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital, we fully trust this solid Saudi support, especially in these dangerous circumstances facing the region and the world, which is in line with international law, the Arab Peace Initiative, and also reflects the ongoing consultation and coordination between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the State of Palestine, and the strength of fraternal relations that connect us. We are in constant contact with the Saudi leadership, at the forefront of which is the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, and Crown Prince His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Netanyahu is a stumbling block

· Do you believe that Benjamin Netanyahu is still fit to play the role of partner in the search for peace?

- We frankly say that there is currently no Israeli partner for making fair and lasting peace, and we told the world that Netanyahu is clearly a stumbling block against achieving a political solution based on international legitimacy and international law. He doesn't believe in achieving peace and ending the occupation for Palestinians and Israelis to live in security and stability instead of wars and security solutions that have been proven to fail time and again, yet he insists on going ahead with them.

I believe the whole world now knows well the truth of our words that Netanyahu has become an obstacle to the current international efforts to stop the Israeli-affiliated war and move in a political path based on international legitimacy. This prevents repeating what is currently happening from crises and escalation, which the entire region suffers from. Netanyahu's declarations rejecting the two-state solution and continuing the war on Gaza are clear proof of his outright rejection of the peace process and achieving security and stability. He only believes in the logic of occupation, force, and settlement.

· Netanyahu is waging a fierce campaign against "UNRWA." How do you see this issue?

- The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) was formed by UN decision number 302 on December 18, 1949, to serve Palestinian refugees displaced from their homeland by force, and it will continue to work until their issue is resolved fairly according to the relevant international legitimacy resolutions, including resolution 194. The Palestinian refugee issue is the core of the Palestinian cause, along with other final status issues.

The threat to dissolve "UNRWA" is a threat to punish millions of our Palestinian people unjustly and inhumanely, especially since they were displaced from their land in 1948, and Israel is still committing crimes against them, such as the genocide in the Gaza Strip. We have told the world that the results of the investigation by "UNRWA" must be awaited before taking any measures, but it is clear that there are attempts by a state to liquidate and end UNRWA's role to implement its plans for the liquidation of the refugee issue and the entire Palestinian issue away from international legitimacy and international law, which we will never allow. We have communicated with related states and parties to prevent that.

· Is it true that "Hamas" has accepted that it will not be an authority in Gaza on "the next day," and what is it asking for in return?

- "Hamas" should answer this question.

Attempts to ignite the West Bank

· Are there fears of a new intifada erupting in the West Bank?

- Since it launched its aggression on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, Israeli occupation forces have been trying to ignite the West Bank and East Jerusalem through their policies of killing, arrest, and raids on Palestinian cities, villages, and camps, and providing protection to terrorist settlers to commit heinous crimes against our people. In response, we have communicated with all the countries in the world, especially the American administration, informing them that the continuation of these Israeli practices will lead to an explosion of the situation that no one can control or predict its results.

However, there is no real and serious pressure to oblige Israel to stop these crimes, and despite that, we continue our efforts to maintain calm and prevent escalation, in order to protect our people and thwart the Israeli occupation's attempt to exploit the situation and ignite the region, leading to the outbreak of a new intifada because their aim is to prevent reaching a political solution based on international legitimacy that ends the Israeli occupation of the state land of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital, which is the political price Israel tries to evade by resorting to escalation and destabilizing the region.

· Is there a project for a meeting between you and the "Hamas" leadership?

- We do not refuse to meet with the "Hamas" leaders; since the coup in 2007, we have been meeting with them, and many agreements have been made to end the coup, as happened in the Mecca, Egypt, Algeria agreements, and others, the recent Al-Alamein, and we responded to all Arab and international efforts made to end the division. However, there are issues that must be committed to for the division issue to be a thing of the past. Specifically, ending the coup and all its manifestations, ensuring we have one authority, one legitimate weapon, one law, and committing that the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and its international agreements. Then the preparation for general elections shall be done, as the Palestinian people shall determine who they elect through the ballot box. We have previous successful experiences in this field attested by the international community, stating that three general elections were conducted with the highest degrees of integrity and transparency.

· Were you surprised by the "Flood of the Aqsa" operation or the magnitude of what it achieved on the first day?

- The attack was a surprise for everyone, and no one was expecting that. Since the coup in 2007, we have had no relationship with "Hamas." Despite all the initiatives presented by the brothers and friends in the world to end the division, "Hamas" leadership has been evading it under weak pretexts, the last of which occurred during the meeting of the Secretaries-General of the Palestinian factions in Al-Alamein City in Egypt last July, where the reconciliation file and joining the PLO were discussed, and it was decided to form a committee to follow up on the issues. Until now, "Hamas" has not responded to the invitation to attend the meetings, which it always does.

· Have you thought about the issue of appointing a deputy for you? Do you need security partners from Arabs or others to manage Gaza?

- This matter is subject to the Palestinian Basic Law, which cannot be amended except through the convening of the Palestinian National Council or by holding general elections and electing a new legislative council to approve the amendment of this article.

As to the second part of the question, we are in constant consultation and coordination with Arab brothers in all matters. In the security file, when the Palestinian National Authority resumes exercising its powers in the Gaza Strip and becomes the political address there, we will look positively on cooperating with all parties willing to contribute to the reconstruction process of the Gaza Strip.