The Israeli government agreed to reduce military raids in the occupied West Bank in exchange for the PA withdrawing its support for a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate halt of illegal Jewish settlement expansion, The New Arab reported.
Israeli forces have been escalating raids on Palestinian cities and towns in the occupied West Bank since last year, killing at least 48 Palestinians since the beginning of the year.
US Scrambles to Avoid, Forestall UN Resolution over Illegal Jewish Settlements
As part of the alleged deal, Israel also agreed to not authorize new settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank – a move, according to Israeli reports, that Israel wasn’t planning to do anyway since the Israeli army’s body in charge of new settlement building convenes every three months.
According to Israeli reports, Israel also agreed to freeze the expulsion of Palestinians from their homes in Jerusalem for several months as well as agreeing to several economic steps to increase the PA’s tax revenues by more than US$60 million a year.
The alleged deal was sponsored by the United States, which committed for its own part to inviting Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to Washington later this year.
UN Security Council to Vote on Israel’s Settlements Expansion amid International Condemnation
Reportedly, the PA agreed to implement the US security plan to reinforce the PA’s control over the northern occupied West Bank, where Palestinian resistance groups have been confronting Israeli forces in recent months.
Moreover, the PA agreed to a non-binding condemnation of Jewish settlement expansion at the UN while putting on hold moves to seek a United Nations Security Council resolution to condemn Israel.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces raided the northern occupied West Bank city of Nablus again on Monday, causing tens of Palestinians to asphyxiate with tear gas.
The Nablus-based Palestinian armed group The Lions’ Den released a brief statement on its Telegram channel at 1:59 am, announcing that its fighters were engaging Israeli forces with gunfire.
(The New Arab, PC)
