The Palestinian Liberation Organization’s central council has authorized its executive committee and President Mahmoud Abbas to cease recognition of Israel and stop security cooperation until Israel recognizes the Palestinian state, cancels East Jerusalem annexation and stops settlements.
“[The Central Council] decided to assign the PLO Executive Committee with suspending recognition of Israel until Israel recognizes the State of Palestine along 1967 borders, annuls its annexation of east Jerusalem and halts settlement building,” the PLO central council said in a statement.
The PLO, an umbrella of major Palestinian political parties, recognized Israel in 1993 before signing a number of agreements with Israel, which established the Palestinian Authority.
The Central Council also decided to renew a decision it made at a past meeting to end security cooperation with Israel “in all its forms.”
The PLO also said that the Oslo Accords, signed with Israel in the early 1990s, “no longer stand”.
It comes as Mahmoud Abbas heads to Brussels to seek support for a demand that the US not be the primary mediator between the Israeli government and the Palestinian leadership.
The decision is also a reaction to a decision in December by US President Donald Trump to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
