Palestinian leader says he is pulling out of the peace agreements over annexation

Abbas, speaking after an emergency meeting of his cabinet in Ramallah, said his government would no longer abide by the multiple accords between the Palestinians, Israel and the United States, including the landmark 1993 Oslo agreement.

The move toward annexation has roiled the region, with European and Arab diplomats largely condemning the possibility. Abbas noted that the initiative was the latest in what he characterized as a string of snubs by the Trump administration, including the 2018 move of the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The Palestinian Authority declined to participate in the administration’s preparation for its peace proposal, which also allows for a limited Palestinian state on the remainder of the territories.

“We hold the American administration fully responsible for the oppression befalling the Palestinian people,” Abbas said in a televised address, according to Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency. “We consider it a primary partner with the Israeli occupation government.”

The ruling Palestine Liberation Organization now considers itself absolved of all obligations because of the moves, Abbas said, leaving Israel responsible and bound by international law “as an occupying power over the territory.”

Abbas has threatened before to abandon the complex web of agreements that has for decades divided control over the disputed territories between Israel and the elected Palestinian Authority â€" most recently after the debut of the Trump peace plan in January. It was unclear Tuesday whether on-the-ground coordination between Israeli and Palestinian security units would be interrupted.

“The innumerable broken-record announcements by the Palestinian Authority claiming they are not bound by agreements with Israel are much less significant than the fact that they have never acted as if they were bound,” said Eugene Kontorovich, director of international law at the Jerusalem-based Kohelet Policy Forum and a leading advocate of annexation.

While his declaration Tuesday was in unusually stark terms, Abbas also committed to participating in an internationally negotiated resolution to the conflict.

“We reaffirm our commitment to a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict based on the two-state solution,” he said.

Israel’s new coalition agreement stipulates that annexation can be enacted by a vote of the cabinet or parliament after July 1, as long as it has the approval of the U.S. administration. Observers say the window to enact the measure would probably close if President Trump fails to win reelection.

Joe Biden, Trump’s likely Democratic opponent, repeated his opposition to annexation Tuesday during an online meeting with Jewish donors.