On the Palestinian front, President Abu Mazen rejected the “Plan of the century” Trump’s since its publication in January and as early as May 19 has announced that if Israel proceeds with unilateral moves, it will dissolve the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). “I don’t think there will be any real material consequences to this statement,” says Khaled Abu Toameh, analyst for Palestinian affairs for the Jerusalem Post. “It is a threat that had made him heard several times in the past, in particular with respect to the move of the American Embassy to Jerusalem. Moreover, dissolving the PA would mean canceling its own position as president. I believe that the threat is aimed more at the Israeli population: take care that you will then have to send your children to Ramallah, Jenin, Hebron to ensure safety, as it was before 1993, and this is a prospect that they do not even want to imagine in Israel. For this reason, there have been more protests in Israel than in the Palestinian streets. “
Last week an official demonstration was held in Jericho organized by Jibril Rajoub, formerly head of the preventive security service and today commissioned by President Abu Mazen to coordinate the Palestinian opposition to the annexation. Relevant public figures, representatives of the UN, the EU, Russian and Chinese ambassador – two allies with which Abu Mazen has strengthened relations since he interrupted the dialogue with the Trump Administration, took the floor. But the Palestinian crowd has not flocked to the crowd. Hussam Khader, former parliamentarian and Fatah exponent, today very critical of the establishment, says that there is a huge gap between the Palestinian people and the leadership: “For me there is no difference between corruption and occupation, they are two sides of the same medal. There is total distrust on the Palestinian streets compared to this clique that has sold our interests for money and privileges. The next Intifada will also be against them. ” Even Hafez Barghouti, former director of the official newspaper of the PA Al-Hayat al-Jadida predicts “a hot summer. The Israeli right dreams of the collapse of the Palestinian National Authority to clean up Palestinian lands, but there will be a response from the Palestinian population to Israel’s actions”.
On the Gaza front, Hamas said that if Israel were to continue its annexation plans “it will be a declaration of war”. And on Friday, Islamic Jihad launched rockets to Israel, which did no damage, but provoked the Israeli air force’s response which hit two Hamas military structures in the Strip. One of the factors that could significantly contribute to the resumption of the violence with Hamas is if Qatar should follow up on the threat of a few days ago to suspend aid to the Gaza Strip – around $ 50 million brought in cash every month, in concert with Israel . A move that Qatar wants to use to push Israel to rethink the annexation and that could have a disastrous impact on the Gaza Strip. For now, aid continues and the Qatari envoy is arriving in the Strip to distribute funds to about 100,000 families.
Abu Toameh is skeptical about a violent Palestinian reaction: “I have been traveling in the Territories for 37 years and cannot breathe the air of a third intifada. If Netanyhau will limit himself to the application of Israeli law only on some blocks of settlements such as Maalè Adumim, Gush Etzion or Ariel, which already in all past agreements remained under Israeli jurisdiction, will not be a factor that will in any way impact the daily lives of the Palestinians living in the area. It is not a fundamental topic like what concerns the Mosque of Al Aqsa, that one capable of mobilizing the crowds “.
In the C areas of the Territories, where all the Israeli settlements are located, about 100,000 Palestinians live and among these there are also those who would be happy to obtain the Israeli identity card – as happened when Israel incorporated East Jerusalem in 1967 and the Highlands in 1981 of the Golan. In a recent report from the Channel 13 Israeli journalist Zvi Yehezkeli toured some Palestinian villages with a hidden camera and tested the reactions of local people. Many of the respondents, who already work in Israel or in settlements and receive a higher salary, would not disdain to enjoy Israeli social rights and pensions, although, as some point out, “it would also mean paying far higher taxes” .
The question of the status of Palestinians living in Areas C, or whether to guarantee their residence or citizenship, is a debate that has been going on for years now. He was also raised by an article by the writer AB Yehoshua in 2016 on the pages of the newspaper Haaretz, in which he proposed to give residence to the 100,000 Palestinians in territories C “to equate their condition to that of the inhabitants of the settlements and to reduce the degree of malignancy in the Israeli occupation”. This, Yehoshua explained, does not mean annexation, but only a way of guaranteeing a better quality of life for the Palestinians as long as negotiations continued to stall. In the impossibility of seating Israelis and Palestinians around the negotiating table again, this could be one of the most plausible scenarios in the medium to long term.
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