Ahmed Qurei
Ahmed QureiFlash 90

Former Palestinian Authority (PA) cabinet leader Ahmed Qurei, also known as Abu Ala, passed away on Wednesday at the age of 85.

“With great sadness, we mourn the death of the national leader, Ahmed Qurei, ‘Abu Alaa’, who passed away. We belong to Allah and to Him we shall return. May his soul RIP,” wrote top PA official Hussein Al-Sheikh on his Twitter account.

Qurei held many positions in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Fatah movement, including being a member of the PLO Executive Committee and head of the Palestinian Authority negotiation team with Israel.

As a member of the Fatah Central Committee, Qurei was instrumental in negotiating the Oslo Accords. In 2000, he took part in negotiations at Camp David with then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

Qurei served as “Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority” from December 24, 2005 until March 29, 2006.

Like other top PA officials, he incited against Israel despite being part of the teams that held peace talks with Israeli officials.

In 2012, Qurei said that the Israeli-PA peace process is "no more than a waste of time" and said the PA could drop its demand for a “two-state solution” and instead seek "a multi-ethnic state covering all of historic Palestine, including Israel."

In 2010, Qurei had his diplomatic privileges revoked by Israel after he threatened that the PA would have to resort to violence if peace talks fell through. He then tested Israel's resolve by attempting to drive over the Allenby Bridge into Jordan, where he found his way blocked by IDF soldiers.

Three years later, in 2013, he was arrested by police at the entrance to Maaleh Adumim, after his car was found to be speeding at 145 kilometers per hour on a road with an 80 km/h maximum speed limit.

Qurei also accused Jews of "defiling" the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism, with their presence.