Mahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud AbbasSTR/Flash 90

The Palestinian Authority’s (PA) Foreign Ministry on Wednesday issued a warning to the international community against what it called Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s “plan to change the basis of the peace process from a political settlement to a security calm”.

In a statement, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned the views expressed by Netanyahu during his meeting this week with Secretary of State John Kerry, in which he said that Israel will not freeze construction in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem and asks the United States to recognize the settlement blocs in Judea and Samaria in exchange for a series of economic “gestures” to the PA, a demand which Kerry reportedly rejected.

According to the PA, such a move is an attempt “to obtain legitimacy for the settlements and undermine the international authority of the peace process.”

The PA Foreign Ministry warned the international community that Netanyahu is trying to impose new rules that would allow Israel to deepen the "occupation" and the “settlements” and turn the conflict from a political one into a religious state.

The “warning” comes on the heels of a demand by PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas this week, that the UN Security Council pass a resolution that will set "a date for the ending of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands and to provide international protection for Palestinians"

Hamas sees the latest intifada, which it calls the “Al-Quds Intifada”, as an important means to weaken Israel and force it to make unilateral moves which are consistent with the Palestinian strategy. According to a senior Hamas official, the current intifada will force Israel to withdraw from Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem, release all terrorist prisoners and to lift the siege on Gaza.