The acute financial crisis in the Palestinian Authority will lead to a “popular
explosion” in the face of Israel in any moment, Fatah spokesman Ahmed Assaf
cautioned Thursday.
“The severe crisis is part of a collective punishment
policy against the Palestinians” because of the UN vote in favor of upgrading
the Palestinians’ status to non-member observer state, Assaf said.
He
added that the situation is the result of Israel’s decision to confiscate
Palestinians’ tax and customs revenues and the failure of the Arab countries to
fulfill their promises to fund the PA.
“The Palestinian people will
resist this blockade,” the Fatah spokesman said. “We won’t surrender or give up
our rights. We also won’t remain silent toward those who are besieging us
politically, financially and economically.”
Assaf said the international
community would have to bear the repercussions of the financial crisis. He also
urged the Arab countries to meet their commitments towards the
Palestinians.
Nabil Abu Rudaineh, spokesman for PA President Mahmoud
Abbas, declared Thursday that Israel would be held accountable for its
“settlement crimes in the Palestinian territories.”
“The settlers and the
Israeli government must know that they will be held accountable for settlement
crimes,” Abu Rudaineh said, hinting at the possibility that the PA leadership
would lodge a complaint against Israel with the UN’s International Criminal
Court.
Abu Rudaineh pledged that “not one stone would remain from the
hysterical settlement projects in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, the capital
of Palestine.”