Live UpdateFrom the Liveblog of Monday, July 3, 2023

Abbas says PA ending security cooperation with Israel due to Jenin raid

3 July 2023, 9:30 pm 1 Edit

Palestinian gunmen take up positions during a confrontation with the Israeli army in the West Bank city of Jenin on July 3, 2023. (Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas says the PA will end all cooperation with Israel, including security ties, following the large-scale IDF raid on the Jenin refugee camp.

Calling an emergency session of the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah, Abbas said the PA would immediately halt all contact and meetings with the Israeli side.

“In light of the Israeli lack of commitment to the Aqaba and Sharm el-Sheikh understandings — the leadership announces that these understandings are no longer binding,” a statement from Abbas says.

Abbas has threatened to halt security coordination with Israel several times in the past.

Previous Palestinian moves to suspend this coordination have been short-lived, in part because of the benefits the PA enjoys from the relationship and also due to US and Israeli pressure to maintain it.

The PA has limited control over scattered enclaves in the West Bank, and its forces have little authority in terror strongholds like the Jenin camp.