Israel, Palestinian Authority to resume security cooperation

TEL AVIV, Israel — The Palestinian Authority on Tuesday announced it would reinstate ties with Israel, after they were cut because of an Israeli plan to annex parts of the West Bank, which has since been put on ice.

“We have received a paper from Israel pledging to abide by the agreements with us, and therefore we announce the resumption of contacts,” Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh was quoted as saying by local media.

The Palestinians are to resume security cooperation with Israel and to accept tax revenue dues from Israel, as they had before summer.

In May, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas cut ties with the United States and Israel in reaction to an Israeli annexation plan, which was later put on ice with the normalization agreements the Jewish state signed with Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates in September.

“In light of the calls made by President Abbas regarding Israel’s commitment to the bilateral signed agreements ... the relationship with Israel will return to how it was,” tweeted Hussein Al Sheik, head of the General Authority of Civil Affairs.

Outgoing U.S. President

Donald Trump, a fervent supporter of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, had broken with former President Barack Obama’s anti-settlements policy by declaring that the U.S. did not view Israel’s West Bank settlements as illegal.

Israeli and Palestinian diplomats are now closely watching whether U.S. President-elect Biden will revive Obama’s strong anti-settlement line.

The radical Islamist Hamas movement, which rules the Gaza Strip, “strongly condemned” the Palestinian Authority’s decision “to return to the relationship with the criminal Zionist occupation.”

In a statement, it described the move as a “stab in the back” of reconciliation efforts between the rival factions Hamas and Fatah.

Palestinian division ultimately began when Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in 2007 and the Palestinian Authority ruled in the West Bank. There have been talks about holding new elections which are expected to reunite the two parts of the Palestinian Territories.

Hamas called on the Palestinian Authority to rescind the decision and rather than relying on Biden, to work with them toward “a real national unity.”