- ‘Essence of draft should be cease-fire and Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. All efforts to stop war are important, but Washington is not honest mediator,’ Bassam al-Salhi tells Anadolu- ‘Focus is no longer solely on cease-fire or rebuilding Gaza - although these are important - but rather on achieving independence for people, putting end to occupation’RAMALLAH, Palestine
The US participation in Gaza cease-fire mediation is a great deception since Washington itself is complicit in Israeli attacks there, a senior Palestinian People's Party official said.
Party Secretary-General Bassam al-Salhi told Anadolu that the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Palestinian groups are fighting to stop Israel's genocidal war in the Gaza Strip.
Tel Aviv is also conducting a violent war in the occupied West Bank which is “no less dangerous than what is happening in Gaza,” he said, adding that Israel is conducting daily raids on cities, carrying out attacks, and setting up checkpoints in the West Bank.
"The occupying state (Israel) continues to destroy infrastructure and carry out daily arrests. A war is being waged on Palestinian land, and there is only one solution to this: to end the occupation," al-Salhi said.
He accused Israel of carrying out a project that would completely sever the West Bank from the Gaza Strip.
"The attack in the West Bank confirms that Israel's project aims to continue its annexation policies and displace more than 23 Bedouin communities, as well as separate the West Bank from Gaza."
Not an honest mediator
Al-Salhi also questioned the honesty of a Gaza cease-fire proposal that US President Joe Biden recently announced, currently under consideration by Palestinian parties.
"The essence of the draft should be a cease-fire and Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. All efforts to stop the war are important, but Washington is not an honest mediator. It is a party to this war."
Al-Salhi said the priority should be to stop Israeli attacks, suggesting that in this context, a prisoner exchange could also be possible.
He alleged that the US and Israel are trying to make the captive-prisoner exchange the main focus of the deal, saying he believes this is not correct path.
“The US is complicit in the attacks on the Gaza Strip and its role as a mediator is a great deception,” he said.
PLO rejects local governance in Gaza
Al-Salhi explained that the PLO rejects the idea of establishing local governance by tribes in post-war Gaza, expressing concerns about a transitional phase similar to the pre-Oslo Accords formula.
He said any local governance in Gaza would serve the goal of completely separating it from the West Bank and fragmenting the Palestinian cause.
He emphasized the need for Palestinian groups to collectively act within a framework and prioritize ending the occupation as their main objective.
Independence struggle, ending occupation
"The ‘Al-Aqsa Flood’ should evolve into a national struggle for independence. The focus is no longer solely on cease-fire or rebuilding Gaza - although these are important - but rather on achieving independence for the people and putting an end to the occupation," Al-Salhi stated.
He underscored the importance of evaluating the Palestinian cause amid significant sacrifices. "Negotiations should focus on establishing a timeline at an international conference to end the occupation, recognize the Palestinian state, and resolve the refugee issue."
He also urged Palestinians to thwart US plans for post-war Gaza.
"The issue is independence because improving the current situation is necessary to end the occupation. Things are not as they were before Oct. 7," said Al-Salhi as he emphasized that they are engaged in an independence struggle and are progressing toward ending the occupation.
Urging the PLO to resolve its issues with Hamas as soon as possible, he said that the Palestinian Authority must transition from being a political framework to becoming a state administration.
“It should free itself from all obligations imposed by Israel and move the issue in that direction," he said.
Since Israel launched its brutal war on Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, Israeli soldiers and settlers have killed at least 548 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem amid a major uptick in violence, arrests, raids, and attacks.
More than 37,350 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and over 85,400 others injured, according to local health authorities.
More than eight months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.
