Riyad Al-Maliki
Riyad Al-MalikiReuters

The Palestinian Authority (PA) “minister of foreign affairs”, Riyad al-Maliki, on Monday accused the United States of trying to pass its Middle East peace plan through Israeli normalization with Arab countries.

Al-Maliki said in a statement quoted by the Xinhua news agency that "Washington is trying to pass its Mideast peace deal throughout (Israeli) normalization relations with Arab countries."

"The American administration is exploiting the normalization agreements between Israel and the Arab countries to win extremists' votes at the expense of the Palestinian cause," al-Maliki noted.

He affirmed that the PA position is "unchangeable and strict, which totally rejects normalization with Israel before the end of the Israeli military occupation of the Palestinian territories."

Al-Maliki's remarks came one day before the signing ceremony of peace agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain is set to take place in Washington.

PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas was quick to reject the US peace plan when it was unveiled and said it would be relegated to the "dustbin of history."

The PA has also blasted the Israel-UAE agreement signed last month. Abbas described it as "a stab in the Palestinians' back". He has also said that no peace would be achieved in the region by bypassing the Palestinian Arabs in favor of normalization of relationships between the Arab states and Israel.

On Friday, the PA denounced Israel’s agreement with Bahrain, calling it "a stab in the back of the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian people”.