Mahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud AbbasReuters

Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday convened the Palestinian leadership for an emergency meeting following US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s announcement that the US no longer considers Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria to be contrary to international law.

The PA’s official Wafa news agency said that Palestinian Arab institutions will review the US statement and make decisions on escalating the popular resistance against attempts to eliminate the “Palestinian issue”.

Furthermore, the Palestinian leadership intends to turn to the UN Security Council and other international institutions and urge them to make decisions that will protect the rights of the Palestinian people in accordance with international law.

The Palestinian Authority is also planning to appeal to the International Criminal Court in The Hague with a request that the Palestinian position against “settlements” be further validated.

The Palestinian leadership reiterated the importance of implementing Security Council Resolution 2334, which states that “settlements” are illegal.

The PA was outraged following Pompeo's statement on Monday.

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, Abbas’ official spokesman, said the declaration “is null and void, condemned and totally contradicts with international law, resolutions of the international legitimacy that reject settlements, and Security Council resolutions, especially resolution 2334.”

Abu Rudeineh “stressed that the US administration is not qualified or authorized to cancel the resolutions of the international legitimacy, and does not have the right to give any legitimacy to the Israeli settlements.”