Palestinian Presidential spokesperson, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, condemned the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip. In air strikes and artillery shelling, Israeli forces have killed sixteen Palestinians since Friday, including a small child and his father.
Speaking exclusively with
This is the point, according to many Palestinian analysts and journalists, to foment the already rocky situation in the new Palestinian government.
Abu Rudeineh continued, "As we have said, he escalations help neither the stability nor the security."
The spokesperson appealed to the Israelis to establish relations with the Palestinian Authority based on former agreements, with an eye toward true justice.
Abu Rudeineh further explained that the Israeli escalation, accompanied by the escalation in political dishonesty and the financial foul-play is negating the possibility of negotiations, and ignoring them to the point that the Israelis are moving quickly to complete their take-over of
The Palestinian Authority completely rejects such tactics."
It is impossible for Palestinians to accept partial solutions, as the PA has done in the past, without real justice in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and
Abu Rudeineh declared that President Abbas has penned an urgent letter to the United Nations Security Council, demanding that the organization hold a special session to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip as the killings mount.
He also noted that "this Israeli escalation against Palestinians is strong evidence of the dangerous process" that is on the path to destroying hopes for a just peace.
Abu Rudeineh also responded to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s statement that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas lost his authority and is therefore not a "good address" for peace negotiations.
Abu Rudeineh said that Olmert said there is no Palestinian partner to impose a bilateral solution, therefore the Israeli said they will do as they please. This is not new, as the Israelis do in fact do as they please regardless of international law, the UN, and International Court of Justice rulings against them, all the while frequently repeating that "there is no Palestinian partner," no matter who is in charge of the Palestinian government.
The Palestinian Presidential spokesperson appealed to the Israelis to return to the negotiating table and to return to accords agreed upon by both the Israelis and Palestinians.
He confirmed the existence of a "good address," and that is Palestinian.
He was democratically elected by the Palestinian people, as was the Hamas-heavy Palestinian Legislative Council, and has been willing to hold negotiations throughout the past years.
Abu Rudeineh also confirmed that the Palestinians are willing to sit at any negotiating table on the condition that those of the other side are willing to acknowledge and follow the most basic of international laws.
