GAZA: Palestinians have called for protests today to coincide with the signing of normalisation accords between Israel and two Gulf states, which they say will amount to another “black day” for the Arab world.
Both the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, have condemned the US-brokered accords as a “stab in the back” of their people.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and top diplomats of the UAE and Bahrain are set to sign the deals in Washington today, normalising relations without any progress on an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement.
“This will be another date to add to the calendar of Palestinian misery,” Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh said, adding the PA would have to “correct” its relationship with the Arab League for its refusal to condemn the normalisation deals by the UAE and Bahrain.
The Palestinians have called for protests on Tuesday to coincide with the signing ceremony and urged other Arab states “not to take part in celebrations”.
Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani and UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan arrived in Washington on Sunday, while Netanyahu arrived on Monday.
Multilateral talks
Meanwhile, Al Jazeera reported that in response to the normalisation deals, fractured Palestinian political factions are working diligently in multilateral talks to restore unity and mend the division between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in negotiations far more promising than previous efforts.
On Saturday, Palestinian groups led by Hamas and Fatah agreed on a “unified field leadership” comprising all factions that will lead “comprehensive popular resistance” against the Israeli occupation, a statement said.
It called for Tuesday – when the signing ceremony takes place in Washington, DC – to be a day of “popular rejection”. Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank are planning “day of rage” demonstrations, and other protests are expected outside the embassies of Israel, the United States, UAE, and Bahrain worldwide.