The Palestinian leadership has rejected any future cooperation with U.N. special coordinator for Middle East peace Nickolay Mladenov, informing the international body that he is “no longer acceptable” because he has “gone beyond his role” in attempting to broker agreements between Israel and Hamas.
PLO executive Ahmad Majdalani said his organization informed the United Nations that Mladenov’s actions harmed “Palestinian national security and the unity of our people.”
Mladenov has been coordinating with Egypt to attempt to produce a long-term truce between Hamas and Israel, but has not included the Palestinian Authority in the negotiations process.
The P.A., controlled by the Fatah Party, is engaged in a long-standing rivalry with the Hamas, which controls Gaza and has slashed salaries to public servants in Gaza by as much as 30 percent. In recent months, the P.A. has limited the number of resources it provides to the region, and blasted Qatar for providing $450,000 in fuel to Gaza this week, accusing Qatar of harming Palestinian unity. Prior to the delivery, the P.A.’s refusal to allow fuel into Gaza resulted in as few as four hours per day of electricity.
The P.A. has demanded an accord between Hamas and Fatah prior to any ceasefire agreement, and said that it is the only Palestinian body that can engage in negotiations.
Last week, Secretary-General of the Fatah Revolutionary Council Maded Fityani accused Mladenov of being a “servant of the American administration” who is “puts his nose in everything.”
“As far as we are concerned as Palestinians, Mladenov’s mission has ended,” said Fityani. “He should spend the rest of his time as the envoy of the U.N. Secretary-General on vacation with his Israeli friends, or traveling at the expense of [U.S. President Donald] Trump or those who fund this moral and political digression, in which he has drowned.”
