Israel and PA to attend 'extraordinary summit' in Jordan

News » Arab-Israeli Conflict

In an effort to reduce tensions ahead of the month of Ramadan and prevent a situation that could lead to an escalation of the conflict, Jordan will hold an emergency summit in Aqaba tomorrow, Sunday, with the participation of United States, Jordan, Egypt, the Palestinian Authority and Israel.

Despite security tensions following the operation in Nablus which killed 11 Palestinians, most of them terrorists, Palestinian officials will attend the conference . However, the PA is expected to come with a number of demands as a condition to keep calm.

According to Palestinian sources, a Jordanian helicopter arrived in Ramallah today to take the Palestinian delegation to Aqaba. The delegation includes intelligence chief Majed Faraj, secretary general of the PLO executive committee and minister in charge of relations with Israel Hussein al-Sheikh and diplomatic adviser to Mahmoud Abbas Majdi al-Khaldi.

In the meantime, Israel promised the Palestinian Authority minimize the entry of the IDF into the territory.

Lebanese newspaper “Al-Akhbar” today unveiled the demands that the Palestinian Authority is expected to present at the international emergency summit in Aqaba — first of all, the recruitment of 10,000 new security personnel and the training of 5,000 active members of the Palestinian Authority security forces. The PA also intends to demand the receipt of weapons and equipment for the Palestinian security forces and a joint military operation with the IDF and the United States, the purpose of which is – prevent Israeli security forces from carrying out major operations in Area A without the consent of this.

It was also reported that Hussein al-Sheikh and Majed Faraj would call for increased cooperation between the Palestinian Authority and US and Israeli intelligence to counter incitement spread by terrorist organizations in Gaza or terrorist fighters abroad to “push the people of Judea and Samaria into joining the confrontation with the forces of the IDF.

On the political side, the Palestinian delegation will call for an end to the Israeli government's preparation of new outposts in Judea and Samaria. According to the Al-Akhbar report, senior US government officials informed the Palestinian Authority that an understanding of the situation would be reached at the Aqaba summit in Judea and Samaria by implementing a plan formulated by US Security Coordinator Lt. Gen. Mike Fenzel — regain control of northern Judea and Samaria.

Palestinian resistance factions condemned the participation of the Palestinian Authority in the security summit and said they considered it “a blow to our nation and a betrayal of the martyrs.” According to them, PA leaders have become “toys” and are partners in international and Israeli efforts to undermine the will of the Palestinian people and crush resistance.

Amid fears of an escalation ahead of the month of Ramadan, UN Middle East Envoy Thor Wensland arrived this week to Gaza, where he met with the leadership of Hamas in an attempt to reduce the level of tension. However, the unrest in the meantime continues — hundreds of Palestinians took to the streets on Thursday night in dozens of settlements in Judea and Samaria, East Jerusalem and Gaza — riots also took place yesterday in several settlements.

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