New York City (CNN) — Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel of not committing to peace agreements known as the Oslo Accords and declared that Palestinians “cannot continue to be bound by these agreements.”
“They leave us no choice but to insist that we will not remain the only ones committed to the implementation of these agreements, while Israel continuously violates them,” Abbas said Wednesday (September 30) in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly.
Abbas referred to “Palestine” as a “state under occupation.”
“We therefore declare that we cannot continue to be bound by these agreements (Oslo Accords) and that Israel must assume all of its responsibilities as an occupying power, because the status quo cannot continue,” Abbas said.
All forms of security coordination between Palestinians and Israelis have now been canceled, said Mustafa Barghouti, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization Central Council.
Palestinians will begin using nonviolent resistance while calling for sanctions against Israel, Barghouti said.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Abbas’ speech “was deceitful and encourages incitement and lawlessness in the Middle East.”
Netanyahu’s office stressed that “Israel is strictly maintaining the status quo on the Temple Mount and is committed to continuing to do so in accordance with the agreements,” according to a statement.
Netanyahu’s office also called on the Palestinian Authority and Abbas to “act responsibly” and join Israel in direct negotiations without preconditions.
“The fact that he – time and again – has refused to do so is the best possible proof of the fact he does not intend to reach a peace agreement,” according to the statement by the Israeli Prime Minister’s office.
The Oslo Accords are a series of peace agreements between Israel and the Palestinians signed in the 1990s.
Prior to his speech before the United Nations, Abbas had indicated he would be making a “bombshell” announcement.
His declaration came on a day when the Palestinian flag was raised for the first time at the U.N. building, in the Rose Garden.
The flag raising was symbolic and politically controversial.
Traditionally, only official member states had the right to have their flag up in front of the U.N. tower. The Palestinian Authority has nonmember observer status.
But the General Assembly earlier this month voted overwhelmingly to allow the Palestinians and the Vatican, another nonmember observer, to add theirs to the collection.
The Palestinians see this as another step toward solidifying their presence in the international arena.
But Israel, one of the eight countries that voted against the measure, has dismissed the Palestinian flag-raising as a photo op. The Vatican’s flag went up Friday (September 25) without ceremony.
CNN’s Michael Martinez wrote and reported from Los Angeles, and Richard Roth from New York City. Oren Liebermann contributed from Jerusalem, and Ray Sanchez from New York.
