Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced that he was no longer bound by agreements signed with Israel in May, stating, "The Palestine Liberation Organization and the State of Palestine are absolved, as of today, of all the agreements and understandings with the American and Israeli governments and of all the obligations based on these understandings and agreements, including security ones." Nearly a month later, after initial casting about and uncertainty, a new status quo is emerging. The current indirect cooperation includes continued security alerts from Israel to the Palestinian Authority, but hardly any in the opposite direction. It also includes extra care to prevent friction between the two sides’ security forces. 

After Abbas’ May 19 announcement, his associates clarified that it includes security coordination with the IDF and the Shin Bet, which for years has helped thwart terror attacks by organizations like Hamas, Islamic Jihad and others.

It must be noted that this security coordination protected not only Israelis, but also the Palestinian Authority and Abbas himself. For example, in 2006, according to the British Sunday Times, the Shin Bet shared information on the intention of a Hamas terror cell to target Abbas and prevented the overthrow of his regime. 

It's in the Palestinians' interest to show that they will continue to prevent terror attacks against Israel and in general and that they will maintain control. Hussein al-Sheikh, a senior Palestinian Authority official responsible for relations with Israel, said in an interview with The New York Times: “We are … not fools, and we don’t want chaos. We are pragmatic. We don’t want things to reach a point of no return. … We will prevent violence and chaos. We will not allow bloodshed. That is a strategic decision.”