The Palestinian Authority (PA) has backtracked on pushing for a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) draft resolution condemning illegal Israeli settlement activity after pressure from Washington, according to several reports.
Faraan: The UNSC session which will focus on the “situation in the Middle East” and the “question of Palestine” is set to take place on Monday at 10am in New York City (15:00 GMT). The Reuters news agency said on Monday that the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which had drafted the resolution along with PA officials, informed the UNSC that the resolution and the vote would be dropped.
Reports by several other US and Israeli news outlets citing diplomatic sources said the PA agreed to drop pursuit of the vote amid pressure from the US government, including promises of a financial aid package as well as a temporary suspension of announcements on new Israeli settlement units and Palestinian home demolitions.
“[US Secretary of State Antony] Blinken reiterated an offer to the Palestinians for a US package of incentives to entice them to drop or at least delay the resolution,” the Associated Press said in a report published on Sunday, citing “diplomats familiar with the conversations”. “Those incentives included a White House meeting for Abbas with President Joe Biden, movement on reopening the American consulate in Jerusalem, and a significant aid package,” the report continues, adding that “Abbas was noncommittal”.
Another report published by the Axios news website, said that in addition, “Israel agreed to several economic steps that will increase Palestinian tax revenues by more than $60m a year.” The website also said the PA agreed to “start talks on resuming security coordination with Israel,” a controversial policy which includes sharing intelligence information about activists and publicly stating it is helping Israel thwart attacks. The PA suspended “the security coordination” in the wake of a deadly Israeli raid on the Jenin refugee camp last month.
