An adviser to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas warned Saturday there was a possibility of a third intifada if the Israeli government goes ahead with its plan to annex parts of the West Bank.
The Kan public broadcaster reported that Nabil Shaath told the Arabic-language arm of the France 24 network that Palestinian rivals Fatah and Hamas are in agreement that there should be a popular uprising if the controversial plan goes ahead.
“When things flare up and it becomes a fully-fledged intifada, we will see a combination of forces between Gaza and the West Bank,” Shaath said.
The Palestinian adviser also said that he expected the potential uprising to be funded by the Arab world, noting Saudi Arabia sent billions of dollars within the first few days of the Second Intifada, but without further elaborating.
The Second Intifada, which erupted in the early 2000s, included waves of suicide bombings and other terror attacks that killed more than 1,000 Israelis.
Israeli security officials last month started to hold discussions to prepare for various scenarios if the annexation plan goes ahead, including the possibility of a full-blown uprising.
Shaath’s statement came after rivals Fatah and Hamas pledged unity against Israel’s West Bank annexation plans and vowed to “topple” the Trump administration’s peace proposal, in a rare show of cooperation at a joint press conference Thursday.
The joint appearance was spurred by common opposition to US President Donald Trump’s controversial peace plan, which paves the way for Israel to annex all of its settlements as well as the strategic Jordan Valley, amounting to 30 percent of the West Bank.
The relationship between Fatah, which controls the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority headed by Abbas, and Islamist terror group Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip and avowedly seeks to destroy Israel, has been plagued by divisions for more than a decade.
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