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Palestinians warn Abbas could dismantle PA in 2018

Palestinians warn that President Mahmoud Abbas might decide at the beginning of 2018 to dismantle the Palestinian Authority and cancel the Oslo Accord.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas speaks during a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, not shown, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, July 18, 2017. REUTERS/Mark Schiefelbein/Pool - RTX3BWOG
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The Temple Mount crisis and violence has left the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah extremely frustrated. While the goal to restore the status quo on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif was achieved and the Israeli government indeed dismantled all security measures July 25 at the entrances to the Temple Mount, the credit for this in the Palestinian public opinion went to the radicals. The Palestinians feel that Hamas and the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, not President Mahmoud Abbas or King Abdullah of Jordan, are the ones who forced Israel to capitulate.

A senior Palestinian minister, an official with an extensive security background who is close to Abbas, told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that the Fatah leadership is currently extremely concerned over the nature of the Palestinian struggle in the eyes of the Palestinians and the Arab and Muslim world. The leadership fears that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security measures near Al-Aqsa Mosque added a religious layer to the national conflict.

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