Palestine to sever ties with Israel ‘gradually’: Erekat

RAMALLAH, Palestine

The Palestinian Authority (PA) will “gradually” sever ties with Israel in line with a decision adopted late Monday by the Palestinian Central Council (PCC), according to Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Secretary-General Saeb Erekat.

Erekat told the Voice of Palestine radio station on Tuesday that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas planned to convene a meeting later Tuesday of the Higher National Committee, which is tasked with implementing decisions adopted by the PCC.

“The National Committee consists of members of the PLO’s Executive Committee and Fatah’s Central Committee, along with government and security officials,” he explained.

“The committee will begin implementing this decision [to cut ties with Israel] gradually… and in all areas,” Erekat added.

On Monday, the PCC (which functions as part of the PLO) announced that it would suspend recognition of Israel until the latter officially recognized a state of Palestine based on pre-1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Following a two-day meeting in Ramallah (the Palestinian government’s administrative capital), the PCC announced that both the PLO and the PA also planned to end security coordination with Israel while also suspending economic agreements made within the context of the 1994 Paris Economic Protocol.