PA Chairman Abbas Warns Of 'Explosion' In Judea And Samaria

Abbas tells Putin Israel risks 'explosion' in Judea and Samaria

Gary Willig

Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas spoke by telephone with Russian President Vladimir Putin Thursday and warned that Israeli policies could lead to an "explosion" of violence in Judea and Samaria.

Abbas cited settlement construction, home demolitions, and "settler terrorism" as the policies that could bring about a conflagration, the PA news agency Wafa reported.“The continuation of these Israeli measures will lead to an explosion of the situation,” Abbas said.

Two days ago, Abbas met with Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz at Gantz's home. Following the meeting, the Defense Ministry announced a series of steps to strengthen the PA, including advances for tax payments collected by Israel on the PA’s behalf, amounting to 100 million shekels and status approvals on a humanitarian basis for 6,000 residents of Judea and Samaria, and an additional status approval for 3,500 Gaza residents.

Furthermore, the package includes approval for 600 entry permits for Palestinian businessmen, and 500 additional permits for business people to enter Israel with their vehicles, and dozens of VIP permits for senior PA officials.

During the meeting with Abbas, Gantz offered a number of economic benefits for the PA, including the possible reduction of fees for purchases between Israel and the PA, easing import conditions at the Israel-Jordanian border - which also serves the PA - and other measures which could increase revenue to the PA by hundreds of millions of shekels annually.